MY WEEK WITH MARILYN - Film Review

"First love can be such despair."
Dame Judi Dench as Dame Sybil Thorndike

I'm not sure if it's because I love film history. Or because I currently find myself falling for someone way outside my league. But Simon Curtis' new film "My Week With Marilyn" was just about one of the best films I believe I'll see all year.

Part historical document, part coming-of-age story, this beautiful work of non-fiction stars the wonderful Michelle Williams as the radiant Marilyn Monroe and Eddie Redmayne as Colin Clark the still wet-behind-the-ears third assistant on Sir Lawrence Olivier's (Kenneth Branagh) 1957 directorial effort "The Prince and the Showgirl." Like most of the world, then and now, Colin falls in love with Miss Monroe on first sight. But unlike most of us, Colin's admiration gets to extend beyond the silver screen.

Rita Hayworth was famous for saying of men who courted her attention that "they go to bed with Gilda, but wake up with me." The point being of course that people fall in love with the legend, not the woman. And that the woman herself in inevitably a disappointment. In the case of Marilyn Monroe, the real Norma Jean was so racked with insecurities that she spent her life trying to fill the void left by the gaping hole which should have easily been filled by a self confidence to match other's adulation. She tried to fill the void with drugs. With men. Already one of the most famous "stars" on the planet, she still clamored for the respect that is afforded to great "actresses" knowing full well that being a star and being a great actress are hardly the same thing. Yet, as much as she pushed for artistic respect, the world pushed back with it's own expectation. She was a sexpot, pure and simple. And try as she might, the world at large refused to accept her as anything else. At one point during the film, a bewildered Lawrence Olivier, exhausted from the effort it takes simply to deal with Monroe's eccentricities blurts out what was just beneath the surface on the mind of many, "why don't you just be sexy. Isn't that what you do?"

To a certrain degree, he was right. That is what she was known for. But the real Marilyn was so much more.

Of course, there's always the question of who really was "the real Marilyn." And trying to get at the heart of that point is the brilliantly layered portrayal by Michelle Williams. I suspect Miss Williams, about the same age now as the real Marilyn Monroe in the film's timeframe, knows all too well the trappings of being a actress in Hollywood. Introduced to much of the world as Jen Lindley in the soapy teeny bopper TV drama "Dawson's Creek," Miss Williams film career has been far more ecclectic. A notable sense of risk marks her choices as an actress. Whether playing the loving wife of real life husband Heath Ledger in the drama "Brokeback Mountain," or matching Ryan Gosling's brilliance step-for-step in last year's bitter sweet romance "Blue Valentine," Miss Williams is clearly one for bold choices. And she makes all the right choices here playing Marilyn Monroe. Her Marilyn is sexy yet vulnerable. You want to reach out and cradle her in your arms. Yet, at the same time, you begin to suspect that the vulnerability itself may too be part of the act. A concious way of drawing in new protectors. Of filling the void. Olivier points out in the movie that no actress, no matter who she is, gets to the level of success that Marilyn achieved without a certain level of strength. She may seem to the outside world to be all over the map, but don't think for a second that she doesn't know exactly what she's doing.

Matching Miss Williams in the tight rope act necessary for portraying real life people in a fictional world is a tremendous supporting cast. Kenneth Branagh sparkles as the aforementioned Sir Lawrence Olivier. He's able to play Olivier's incredible vanity without allowing him to become a caricature. Olivier has an ego for sure. He's the most acclaimed actor in the history of the English stage, who wouldn't like themself in that situation. But he's as smitten with Marilyn as the rest of us. Even if she does drive him to the point of insanity. Dame Judi Dench plays the less well known Dame Sybil Thorndike. She portrays her with the necessary English stoicism, but also with a knowing warmth. She serves as both Marilyn's co-star and protector. Even more of a protector than those claiming to be the title bearers of the position, her manager Milton Greene (Dominic Cooper) and personal acting teacher Paula Strasberg (Zoe Wanamaker). Both see Marilyn more as a meal-ticket than human being. Yet still, the film is wise enough to allow each their own moments to suggest they too once had their own week with Marilyn at one point that affects their actions.

As for the current one-weeker, Colin Clark, Mr. Redmayne plays him with such wide-eyed optimism that we never have a moment to doubt his intention. Marilyn flies into his heart with reckless abandon, and he returns to her his affection with the furvor reserved for those just learning what it means to be in love. He cares for her nakedly and openly. Unafraid of being hurt, he pursues her without fear, which I suppose is evidence of a life yet to be lived. At one point, Lucy, a costume designer on the production played by Emma Watson, asks if Marilyn has broken his heart. Why does she ask? "Because it needs breaking."

I guess maybe this adage is as true in real life as in this movie. Sometimes we need to be hurt to know what it is that we are missing.

One thing that is for sure is that you shouldn't miss this film. A wonderful picture sure to be a major factor come awards season. And a loving reminder that first love can feel so good. And hurt so bad.