My Week with Marilyn (2011)
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 159
Fresh: 133 | Rotten: 26
Michelle Williams shines in My Week with Marilyn, capturing the magnetism and vulnerability of Marilyn Monroe.
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 31 | Rotten: 9
Michelle Williams shines in My Week with Marilyn, capturing the magnetism and vulnerability of Marilyn Monroe.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 31,197
My Rating
Movie Info
In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl'. The film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Aurthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Nearly 40 years on, his diary account The Prince, the Showgirl and Me was
Watch It Now
Cast
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Michelle Williams
Marilyn Monroe -
Eddie Redmayne
Colin Clark -
Kenneth Branagh
Sir Laurence Olivier, S... -
Dougray Scott
Arthur Miller -
Julia Ormond
Vivien Leigh -
Judi Dench
Dame Sybil Thorndike, S... -
Dominic Cooper
Milton Greene -
Emma Watson
Lucy -
Toby Jones
Arthur Jacobs -
Zoë Wanamaker
Paula Strasberg -
Philip Jackson
Roger Smith -
Geraldine Somerville
Lady Jane Clark -
Derek Jacobi
Sir Owen Morshead -
Simon Russell Beale
Cotes- Preedy, Cotes-Pr... -
Pip Torrens
Sir Kenneth Clark -
Michael Kitchen
Hugh Perceval -
Miranda Raison
Vanessa -
Karl Moffatt
Jack Cardiff -
Robert Portal
David Orton -
Jim Carter
Barry -
Victor McGuire
Andy -
Richard Attlee
Reporter #1 -
Michael Hobbs
Reporter #2 -
Brooks Livermore
Reporter #3 -
Rod O'Grady
Reporter #4 -
Richard Clifford
Richard Wattis -
Gerard Horan
Trevor -
Alex Lowe
Denys Coop -
Georgie Glen
Rosamund Greenwood -
Richard Shelton
Waiter -
Peter Wight
Lucy's Father -
Paul Herzberg
Paul Hardwick -
James Clay
Jeremy Spenser -
Jem Wall
Spectator -
Ben Sando
Schoolboy #1 -
Josh Morris
Schoolboy #2 -
David Rintoul
Dr. Connell -
Sean Vanderwilt
Male Dancer #1 -
Adam Perry
Male Dancer #2 -
Desmond McAleer
Senior Policeman
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My Week with Marilyn Trailer & Photos
All Critics (160) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (133) | Rotten (26) | DVD (2)
That's all familiar lore but, to his credit, director Simon Curtis lays out these separate ambitions and conflicting tensions with breezy dispatch in the early frames.
Top Critic'My Week with Marilyn': Minor film with major marketing campaign
A dubious idea done in by Adrian Hodges's shallow script and Simon Curtis's clumsy direction.
[Williams] floats through the movie, perfectly capturing Monroe's way of rhythmically whispering through a song, looking softly frightened when uncertain, and not strolling so much as delicately oozing across the floor.
Curtis occasionally takes his characters out of Pinewood, but they're never really set free, either in physical or emotional terms.
Michelle Williams plays Monroe, and she's a wonder.
A fun and tender tale of infatuation backed by two outstanding Oscar-nominated performances.
When Michelle Williams is singing about starting a "Heat Wave" by "making my seat wave," friends you will believe it.
The film hinges on Williams' performance and not once do you question that she is Monroe. It's that "all-in" that makes the film work in such fantastic fashion.
Definitive performances keep the viewer interested in a less than compelling screenplay.
My Week with Marilyn is a performance master class from Williams, Branagh, Dench, Ormond etc orbiting around the most boring protagonist that I've seen in recent memory.
A few good performances here and there do nothing to prevent this sappy, doe-eyed production from falling head-first into tedious territory.
a charming look at a small sequence of Monroe's life and the subtle impact she had on those around her. A wonderful film that goes beyond the story you already know.
Worth a watch just for Williams and the charming tale it tells.
Michelle Williams is astonishingly good as Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn. It's a great shame the film itself can't equal the brilliance of Williams' performance.
Williams captures the vulnerability, allure and transcendent appeal of Monroe perfectly.
The subject matter is interesting but I was disappointed with its delivery. The screenplay is repetitious.
Made with sublime sensitivity - not to be mistaken for weakness - My Week With Marilyn is a shimmering, memorable, magnificent movie
Like Chanel No 5, whose fragrance with which she is identified, the bewitching allure of Marilyn Monroe wafts throughout this gem of a film, allowing us an intimate insight into her fragility, loneliness and insecurity
An uneven story buoyed by a transformative performance by Michelle Williams.
Michelle Williams, who has received a lot of criticism for the shape of her body, deserves recognition for one of the year's best performances for her very convincing portrayal of Marilyn Monroe.
Based on a true story about the iconic Marilyn Monroe, "My Week with Marilyn" depicts the actress at her most gorgeous and most frustrating.
It is Michelle Williams who really sets the movie apart. She eerily recalls the ethereal Monroe and her subtle shifts in mood really get at the heart of the often somnambulant girl-woman.
Williams and a solid cast keep the intrigue coming.
Williams is brilliant as Monroe while Branagh matches her move for move.
Audience Reviews for My Week with Marilyn
Super Reviewer
It was worth watching, but once was enough.
Super Reviewer
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- Sir Laurence Olivier: Acting is all about truth and if you can fake that, you'll have a jolly good career.
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- Dame Sybil Thorndike: First love is sweet despair.
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- Dame Sybil Thorndike: First love is such a sweet despair, Colin.
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- Marilyn Monroe: Why do the people I love always leave me?
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- Marilyn Monroe: People always see Marilyn Monroe. As soon as they realize I'm not her, they run.
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- Marilyn Monroe: Don't forget me.
- Colin Clark: As if I could.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Michelle was the weakest link in the film | 11 days ago | 0 |
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Foreign Titles
- Mi semana con Marilyn (ES)
The film does a wonderful job of getting inside not only the filmmaking, but of the psyche of that mercurial yet fragmented and frightened woman child that was Marilyn. With a strong cast including Kenneth Branagh as Olivier (who must have truly enjoyed being able to emote the bard in so many lines... I could listen to him do Shakespeare all day), and a fantastic rendition of Marilyn by Michelle Williams. For good measure you have Dame Judi Dench in a lovely role, and in what amounts to a cameo, Derrick Jacobi, who manages to light up the screen in his short time on it.
The direction and camera work stand up to the actors involved, with some lovely rotating camera work and lighting that somehow managed to emulate just how the camera loved Miss Monroe. Director Simon Curtis (and wouldn't it be something if he was related to Tony Curtis who once said that kissing Marilyn was like kissing Hitler) - plays the film as if it were the 60's and this serves the film well - keeping things moving along and light and breezy in spite of showing all of Marilyn's frayed edges. Using bits of songs from the Marilyn songbook along the way help capture her glamour but also her frailty, especially the terrific adaptation by Williams of That Old Black Magic which closes the film. Her significant pause before uttering the last word of the song sent chills down my spine.
Many have complained that this film is nothing more than a gimmick, but I have to disagree. It is well made, with terrific acting on display - an intelligent script and a 60's feeling that while showing you bits of the fractured Marilyn, refuses to wallow in it. The film may lack a certain depth in this regard, but for my taste, this isn't what I wanted to see here. The film entertains, shows a degree of respect for the subject, and rises far above the tabloid fare I'm sure many were hoping for.