Nonna's Rating: $$
Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Audience: 79%
Kudos to Michelle Williams who is one gutsy girl -- doing her best to reanimate Marilyn Monroe in 2011. She almost does it -- which is saying a lot -- in this engaging film based on Colin Clark's memoir of the time he spent as 3rd Assistant Director (a gofer) on The Prince and the Showgirl -- a 1956 film directed by and starring Lawrence Olivier. If you've never seen it, I don't recommend you do. There is absolutely no chemistry between the two stars. Olivier is too old and Marilyn is too Marilyn.
There are several other notable performances in My Week: Kenneth Branagh nails Lawrence Olivier; Eddie Redmayne as 23-year-old Clark couldn't be more charming; Judi Dench as Dame Sybil Thorndike gives another impeccable Jude Dench performance; Julia Ormond as an aging Vivien Leigh is convincingly desperate and sad; and Emma Watson (Hermione!) shines in a small part which is a promise of things to come.
It's easy to say that Williams just doesn't have the body to pull off Marilyn Monroe -- of course what female star in the 21st century does! What's missing is more than a body though: it's that magical, ineffable, no-way-you-can-pin-it-down, essence of Marilyn.
Nonna's Rating
$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening
$$$ = Worth paying the Matinee price
$$ = Worth a rental
$= Wait for cable
# = Skip It
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