<p> Marilyn Monroe is exactly like Adolf Hitler in one respect. Both left such a vivid and widespread impression through their public performances that any actor playing them will measure short. Michelle Williams is a picture of loveliness as the title character in My Week with Marilyn, yet her imitation of the actress is no substitute for Monroe's screen image. Unable to conjure up the kitten in Monroe, Williams captures the mannerisms without the elusive essence. At moments, however, the look on her face flashes the real Monroe like a bright ray of light reflected in a mirror. </p> <p><em>My Week with Marilyn</em> is director Simon Curtis and screenwriter Adrian Hodges' interpretation of Colin Clark's memoir. Clark was a young gopher on the London set of the 1957 movie <em>The Prince and the Show Girl</em>, a featherweight costume comedy directed by Laurence Olivier and co-starring himself and Monroe. In this account, Clark was assigned the role of Monroe's minder, but instead of simply getting the star out of bed and to the studio on time, he became her shoulder to cry on, her chum in a friendless world. Clark fell in love, albeit he had already entertained a boyish crush on her screen image. </p> <p>Clark is believably naïve and plucky in the hands of Eddie Redmayne. Williams is the center of attention as the vulnerably manipulative Monroe, stumbling in a fog of pills, surrounded by smarmy Hollywood toadies and befuddled by the owlish acting coach Paula Strasberg (Zoe Wanamaker), who imposed a totalitarian version of “the Method” on her uncertain but willing client. Olivier would have none of it. Kenneth Branagh steals many scenes as the lordly British actor who despised the Method's pursuit of truth, embraced the artifice of acting and was outraged by his co-star's inability to memorize lines and perform them without countless stumbles and retakes. The supporting cast, a treat for lovers of British film and television, is headed by Judi Dench as actress Sybil Throndyke, a voice of sympathy and wisdom amidst the chaos. </p> <p>A stylish recreation of its time and place, <em>My Week with Marilyn </em>is chockablock with well chosen and telling details, including the copy of <em>Ulysses</em> in Monroe's dressing room and the passport problems endured by her increasingly estranged husband, playwright Arthur Miller, because of alleged Communist ties. Monroe seems to embrace her celebrity like a moth aware that the flame will burn her wings. The one tiresome theme is Clark's lovesick pursuit of Monroe, which comes across as, well, something out of Hollywood. </p>
