Writer: Adrian Hodges
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones
Saying that the shooting of The Prince and the Showgirl didn't go well would be an understatement. Tempers flared and personalities clash, especially between director/male lead Sir Laurence Olivier (Branagh) and female lead Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams). It didn't help matters when Monroe's husband Arthur Miller left town and she had a fling with third assistant director Colin Clark (Redmayne).
Confession: I had never seen an entire Marilyn Monroe film before My Week with Marilyn came out. Thus, I felt this review would be inadequate if I did not watch the "source material," as it were, afterwards. Now that we've got that out of the way...this film was absolutely incredible. Michelle Williams is just as great as she was in Blue Valentine last year, if not better. Not only does she look the part, but she also brings out the dichotomy of the dark, tortured soul versus the childlike/"innocent"-yet-sexy that Monroe did so well. She also sings Branagh is unsurprisingly perfect as Shakespearean actor/director Olivier; I think they both deserve awards purely for running around so long with that monocle. The one bad thing about this movie, sadly is...Emma Watson. Not that her performance is bad, by any means, but the role. She plays a wardrobe girl and the initial object of Colin's affection; you could cut all her scenes out and the movie would suffer nothing. Shame on Hodges for leaving her in. Oh, and it's a bit unsettling to see Howard Stark and Arnim Zola working hand in hand, but if you're not some comic book geek, that shouldn't be too off-putting. A
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