Maybe for the first time all year, you’ve got enough free time to get out and see a movie. Over the break, we’ll provide occasional “quick takes” on movies we’ve seen, briefly covering what we liked, what we didn’t like, and whether it’s worth your time and money. Today: My Week with Marilyn.
The premise of My Week with Marilyn intrigued me from the start—a movie about one of the greatest movie stars of all time starring Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh. Throw in the handsome freckled British actor Eddie Redmayne and it even looked promising.
My Week with Marilyn tells the story of the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe and Sir Laurence Olivier, through the eyes of the painfully naïve Colin Clark, played by Redmayne, a gopher from a rich family who falls in love with movies, not to mention Marilyn. The movie is loosely based on Clark’s books about his time in show business.
As the casual tone of the title implies, the movie aims to gives us a glimpse of the real Marilyn, who was more than her public persona. However, My Week with Marilyn falls short of this goal.
