Weak 'Week' with Monroe

HOW DO you solve a problem like Marilyn?

Despite being dead for 49 years, Marilyn Monroe is one of the most enduring figures of popular culture in part because she was so freakishly charismatic. To behold her power, watch her in "All About Eve," one of her early screen roles. She's in the movie for about five minutes, but it's impossible to take your eyes off her, wresting focus from the always-formidable Bette Davis.

Monroe is also one of celebrityhood's most enduring enigmas, her inner turmoil contradicting the facade of the blond sex kitten. Ironically, it's the latter image that perseveres.

But what makes Monroe so utterly fascinating is what dooms "My Week with Marilyn," the debut feature from British TV director Simon Curtis.

"My Week with Marilyn" is based on Colin Clark's memoir of his time as the third assistant director (a glorified gofer) to Sir Laurence Olivier on the contentious set of "The Prince and the Showgirl." The light comedy was Olivier's attempt at film stardom and Monroe's attempt at legitimacy. But neither wanted the other to break out from their stereotype. Olivier begged Marilyn to just be sexy, while Monroe deferred to acting teacher Paula Strasberg, who wanted her to feel the part of the shallow showgirl. The film was a failure all around.

While it did nothing for its stars, "The Prince and the Showgirl" was momentous for Clark, who had a brief love affair with Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was then married to playwright Arthur Miller.

Eddie Redmayne's Clark is lifeless. Just as Monroe's co-stars seem to disappear when in her blinding presence, so does Clark, who is dull compared with the tumultuous Monroe.

But this is Clark's story, so he stays firmly in the center. Attempts at making him at all interesting seem halfhearted. He has a love interest in the form of Emma Watson's comely costumer, but she's picked up, then discarded. As is the criminally underused Judi Dench and famed British actress Dame Sybil Thorndike, who appear briefly and then disappear.

(The only actor that makes it out alive is Kenneth Branaugh as Olivier. They look nothing alike, but at least Branaugh looks like he's having fun, if only because he's satiated by all of the scenery he chews.)

Redmayne's failure puts the movies squarely on Williams, who tries her darndest but can't create a fully realized Monroe. To her credit, Williams doesn't simply trot out the velvety voice and birthmark.

She moves like Monroe and tries to fill her costumes, but the harder she tries to disappear within her character, the more apparent is the disparity between the legend and the actress portraying her.

It's not really Williams' fault. The writers never develop the Monroe character. "My Week with Marilyn" never shows us the woman underneath all that peroxide. Blame the source material. Clark was clearly entranced by Monroe, falling in love instantly.

But the rest of the world fell for her too, so how is he different from us?