Review by Brian Downing
When a friend has a passionate stance on a movie, I like to encourage it. In the words of the Emperor: "good, good, let the hate flow..."
My Week With Marilyn's problem is that every scene is stupid. It is hard to enjoy a picture when the director clearly received studio notes saying "1950s star movies involving depression will get $0 BO. Make it cute." The cuteness angle destroys everything that could've been effective about the movie. The whimsical soundtrack tries to make the watcher feel like everything will be okay, like this is a love story. British union guys engage in cute scenes involving declaratory sentences about how silly our protagonist is for thinking he can move a chair. Marilyn's handlers speak like caricatures of people - some sound like J. Jonah Jameson, others sound like Dick Van Dyke's cockney. Vivian Leigh is all over the place but never authentic. Judi Dench is in the movie to act like the nicest famous old person in the world. The cast is totally wasted on the script and direction.
Ah, you say, but what about Michelle Williams? Isn't she the reason to see the movie? That's certainly what the reviews say - if you read a few, no one claims this movie is particularly good. They claim Michelle Williams is good. But they think she's good for the same reason they think people playing roles with mental disabilities are good - "that isn't actually what that actor/actress is like at all! That means they're good at acting!" This view is exacerbated by the fact that Michelle Williams doesn't really look like Monroe at all - if you believe that Williams is Marilyn, then Williams must've really pulled something off.
I disagree with this perspective. I think being believable in a role gets you to par. After that, you need to be a compelling, real figure. And the movie simply can't support that weight. So what the audience is left with is Michelle Williams doing a good Marilyn Monroe impression in the context of a bunch of soulless scenes. One might even argue that the movie is influenced by the underlying film it attempts to recreate - a vapid, tiresome comedy. Except The Prince and the Showgirl is a comedy by intention.
So maybe don't see this one.
The Brian Factor: 3+1+2+1+1 = 8