MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

Even though Michelle Williams didn't entirely convince me that she was THE Marilyn Monroe, she did win me over as a fragile, needy woman who could turn on the wattage for her adoring fans.

It is a tall order to play a movie icon so famous as Marilyn Monroe. But, even though Michelle Williams didn't entirely convince me that she was THE Marilyn Monroe of The Seven Year Itch and How to Marry a Millionaire (which, in my mind is almost impossible for any actress), she did win me over as a fragile, needy woman who could turn on the wattage for her adoring fans.

Cinema buffs will love the fun, backstage-at-the-movies romp of My Week with Marilyn, which profiles the making of 1957's The Prince and the Showgirl through the eyes of a 23-year-old stagehand named Colin (Eddie Redmayne). Young Colin Clark wants to get into the movie business, and lucky for him, his family's credentials give him an "in" to Laurence Olivier's film studio in London. Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) hires him as a "3rd Assistant Director" (aka a glorified gofer), to a new film that is set to co-star Olivier with the hottest actress around, Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams). Little does the crew realize that the rumors of Monroe being difficult to work with are not only true, but perhaps conservative.

From the misleading movie poster, I expected My Week With Marilyn to be a somber and dramatic portrayal of celebrity. But you know what? This movie is really quite funny! Branagh plays Olivier like a pinched tea kettle, set to boil over with impatience at any given moment (and Marilyn's behavior gives him many opportunities to boil over). Julia Ormond blows in as Olivier's partner Vivien Leigh, who, as an "aging" actress in her 40s, gets to offer Marilyn compliments that come across as veiled bitch-slaps. Judi Dench plays Dame Sybil Thorndike, one of the stars of the film within a film. Dame Sybil seems to phone it in during her scenes in Prince, then as soon as the camera switches off, turns into a fierce mother-hen to the frazzled Marilyn. And Zoë Wanamaker completely steals every moment she is on camera, as the as Marilyn's protective and enabling acting coach Paula Strasberg. The likes of Derek Jacobi, Dougray Scott, Emma Watson, Toby Jones, and Dominic Cooper fill out the large, rich cast of characters that get sucked into the vortex of Marilyn's stardom, for better or for worse.

My Week With Marilyn is at its best when it shows how Marilyn could turn on her wattage for her starstruck fans. With her new boytoy Colin in tow, she visits Eton College, and is immediately surrounded by drooling boys. What could be a scary scene turns into a moment where you see how Marilyn could work a crowd (one lucky boy gets a kiss on the check, which causes him to swoon). In another scene, she turns it on for the staff at Windsor Castle, where she and Colin have been given an impromptu private tour by Windsor's Librarian (Jacobi), who happens to be Colin's godfather. Scurrying down a side corridor, Marilyn and Co. come face to face with a crowd of maids and staff. Rather than fleeing, she sees the expectant look on their faces, so asks Colin, "Shall I be her?" Who? "Marilyn". She wiggles her hips, smiles her thousand-watt movie-smile, winks and blows them a kiss. They. Love. It.

My Week With Marilyn only offers the insight of the point of view of an outsider who knew the woman for, well, one week. She is romanticized and pitied. Off camera, Marilyn is a hot mess, but is as sweet and insecure as she is manipulative. This movie doesn't really offer anything new about Marilyn, but offers a fun escape through the eyes of a young man who (like everyone else who crossed her path) fell in love with Marilyn the star as well as Marilyn, the tragic figure.