My Week with Marilyn – 3 Buckets

There is no better reminder of the power of great acting than when one performance elevates an entire film from mediocrity. Such is the case with My Week with Marilyn, which would have been destined for the Lifetime channel had it not been for the casting of Michelle Williams, who delivers a transcendent portrait of the iconic title character.

It should be noted upfront that My Week with Marilyn does not contain any new revelations about Marilyn Monroe’s life and career; in fact, the script barely touches upon the literal breadth of her celebrity. The production of Ms. Monroe’s most successful film, 1959’s Some Like it Hot, and her alleged fling with JFK took place after the movie ends.

Instead, My Week with Marilyn is based on an autobiographical memoir by Colin Clark (played here by Eddie Redmayne), who socialized with Ms. Monroe while working as the third-assistant director on her film The Prince and the Showgirl as a young man. While this limited scope keeps the movie from losing its focus (as overambitious, decades-spanning biopics often do), it also renders the proceedings awfully slight. Instead of getting to the heart of Monroe, screenwriter Adrian Hodges wastes his time on hokey melodrama involving Colin’s developing feelings for Marilyn, which predictably end in heartbreak.

But where the script fails to bring substance to the legendary Monroe, Williams’ performance more than compensates. On the surface, Williams does a bang-up impersonation of Monroe, from her mannerisms to her vocal inflections. On a deeper level, she exudes the same magnetic quality that made Monroe so famous, demanding the viewer’s attention. In fact, for all the movie deals with the darker side of Monroe’s life–primarily her depression and prescription-drug abuse–Williams’ portrayal is perhaps the most sensuous and luminous of any performance this year.

What a feat it is that Williams’ depiction of the darker side of Monroe is never stilted by the glamour of the role or the superfluousness of the overarching narrative about Monroe’s relationship with Colin. Williams’ performance stands a compelling look at both depression in general and the unhealthy nature of larger-than-life celebrity, two topics that have only become more socially relevant since the 1950s. Scenes showing how difficult Monroe was to work with in making The Prince and the Showgirl, directed by none other than Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh), are among the strongest in the picture.

In fact, the overall thinness of My Week with Marilyn may have actually worked to Williams’ advantage. Because the movie never seems overly grandiose or self-important–using the conventional “day/week in the life” format, how could it?–there is nothing to distract the viewer from each savory level of her performance.

Needless to say, the film would have needed a more substantive, encompassing story to ascend to greatness, but in this case, mere goodness is a-OK. Between Williams’ surefire Oscar nominee of a performance and some lovely technical accomplishments–Conrad Pope’s score and Ben Smithard’s cinematography help the movie go down easy–My Week with Marilyn is well worth seeing.

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My Week with Marilyn (2011; UK, USA). Produced by Cleone Clarke, Mark Cooper, David Parfitt, Colin Vaines, Bob Weinstein, and Harvey Weinstein. Directed by Simon West. Written for the screen by Adrian Hodges, based on the book by Colin Clark. Starring Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Ormond, Kenneth Branagh, Pip Torrens, Emma Watson, Geraldine Somerville, and Michael Kitchen. Distributed by The Weinstein Company. Rated R, with a running time of 99 minutes.