Dame Sybil Thorndike:  First love is such sweet despair, Colin. My Week with Marilyn is such a terrific film with great performances from big names like Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh, and littler names like Eddie Redmayne and Philip Jackson. What makes this movie the pleasure it is, is definitely the top notch cast. Michelle Williams just continues to top herself with everything she does and her performance as Marilyn Monroe is no different. She is absolutely fantastic. The other standout is Eddie Redmayne, who plays Colin Clark. Colin Clark is a 23 year old and has aspirations of making it in the movie business. He works hard to try to get a spot on the production team of Sir Laurence Oliver's next film, which happens to star Marilyn Monroe. Colin is given a position as 3rd Assistant Director and is basically nothing more then an errand boy. He catches the eye of Marilyn though, as he is different from the rest of the films production team. We also get a glimpse at the tense relationship between Oliver and Monroe as they work on the film. I love movies that show the behind the scenes look at famous people, and with My Week with Marilyn we are given that opportunity. It's also a film of subtlety, which I also love. Marilyn's lifestyle isn't made center stage in the film, but the glimpses we get of it are enough. It's just a really well written and directed film.  My Week with Marilyn is a must see in my opinion. I loved each and every second of it and can't wait to watch it again. This is one of those films I can see myself revisiting many times and I'm sure I will. 

Any biopic of someone as timeless and monumentally classic as Marilyn Monroe is going to underwhelm compared to the real thing, but with this film it got pretty darn close to impressive. Marilyn Monroe was a very flawed individual, and her life was tormented more by her own demons than anything pivotal, such as her divorces, pitfalls, and aberrations with the law and herself. This film takes on the grappling that Monroe went through in just keeping herself together, and the people who took care of her. The people around her get more of the attention, mostly because the film is from the point of view of Colin Clark (Redmayne) a third assistant director on the set of the film "The Prince and the Showgirl." Because of the setting I was not particularly intrigued to see this film for the longest time, mostly because Olivier's directorial debut was a lukewarm effort on both parties' parts and now that this film has emerged we can all see why. Olivier and Monroe did not work well together, mostly because Marilyn was trying to show herself as a viable and dramatic actress, and Olivier wanted a break from the world of Shakespeare so he could play the funnyman beside the comedic actress. The charm of the original Marilyn does come across well from Williams, as she conducts herself with the same vulnerable attitudes and whimsical sexuality as the real blonde bombshell. Branagh also does a very good job of capturing the bravado and sincerity of Olivier, mostly because both men imbibe some of the same qualities. Redmayne, as the caddish assistant, is without a proper personality other than caring about Marilyn and being cunning in order to secure a job. Other than that we're too busy watching Marilyn unfold herself onscreen to care whether or not she breaks the schoolboy's heart or not. The film is so minimal with what actually happens that Monroe comes off as a typically morose, temper tantrum giving, woman-child. Besides all the drama, it's a very interesting film about the most famous woman in the world.