My Week with Marilyn

Actors:  Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Ormond, Emma Watson, Judi Dench

Rating:  6 out of 10, this was another Netflix rental and another definite not buy.  The acting is superb especially from Branagh and Williams.  My sole problem is that Williams is just not Marilyn when it comes to looks or to charisma.  She certainly gives it a game effort but the whole premise is based on the devastating charm and physical presence Monroe was capable of and that is severely lacking with Williams.  She expertly conveys the lost Marilyn and the supporting cast of her enablers are also top notch to a really creepy degree.  Branagh shines as Olivier and has some of the movie’s best moments as he struggles with Monroe’s unprofessionalism juxtaposed with her talent.  Redmayne is your typical English school boy but he is clearly out of his depth when he appears on the screen with either Branagh or Williams, not to mention Dench.  This was an interesting bit of supposedly true adventure of a young boy with the fatally flawed superstar and I liked what it had to say about the illusion of celebrity but it just misses on being likable.  I can’t believe how old Ormond got, all of a sudden.

MVP:  Branagh as the superbly talented yet put upon Lawrence Olivier