The real Marilyn Monroe was an inch and a half taller than Michelle Williams, a significant difference when one considers that there is no way Williams could have replicated the voluptuous physicality of Monroe's presence. Yet, the young actress does something quite unexpected in capturing the essence of Monroe's wounded psyche for all its frailties and doing a convincing job of conveying the public Marilyn for all her breathy sensuality in this modest 2011 showbiz tale. Directed by British TV veteran Simon Curtis and written by Adrian Hodges, the film depicts a minor piece of motion picture lore based on the memoirs of Colin Clark, who was a lowly "third assistant director" during the production of the Ruritanian romance, The Prince and the Showgirl. The mostly forgotten 1957 movie marked Monroe's attempt at being taken seriously as an actress in a well-publicized collaboration with Sir Laurence Olivier just after she married playwright Arthur Miller.

The story really begins with Monroe's arrival in London to start filming. Fully devoted to Lee Strasberg's school of Method acting, she constantly searches for her character's motivation even within the context of a soufflé-light drawing room comedy. With sychophantic acting coach Paula Strasberg constantly by her side, she is chronically tardy on the set keeping her distinguished British company of thespians waiting for hours. Monroe's already renowned insecurities become heightened by Olivier's abrasive impatience as not only her co-star but her director. As a witness to her undeniable aura, the young Colin becomes smitten as he is assigned to be her protector when she begins to bond with him after Miller returns to New York. This leads to a getaway visiting Windsor Castle and Eton College before a comparatively more confident Monroe returns to the set. The film is bookended by Williams' fearlessly entertaining takes on the Monroe classics, Irving Berlin's "Heat Wave" and Harold Arlen's "That Old Black Magic" (although completely out of their original context).

Williams tackles the impossible with her empathetic performance as Monroe, and she manages it with aplomb without resorting to outright impersonation. One deliberate exception is the enchanting little dance she does as her character in the movie within the movie - she mimics Monroe perfectly in those few moments. Eddie Redmayne plays the callow Colin to the best of the screenplay's workmanlike limitations since the only hint of complexity is breaking the heart of the young costumer played in a fetching manner by an underused Emma Watson. As Olivier, Kenneth Branagh captures the ego-driven bluster and measured speech cadence of the legendary actor, but he is also underserved by Hodges' script. Judi Dench again steals her scenes as a fellow scene-stealer, Dame Sybil Thorndike. Barely making a ripple in the story are Julia Ormond as Olivier's then-wife, Vivien Leigh, with just a hint given of her descent into madness, and Dougray Scott as a taciturn Miller. For all its flaws, the film is worth seeing for Williams' mesmerizing work, for example, the scene where she romps through the English countryside conveying Monroe's sense of freedom in a way that recalls a similarly poignant scene in The Misfits.

First off, I tip my hat to Michelle Williams. She gave a valiant effort in trying to pull off an icon, but she only got it 50% right. What she DID nail was Marilyn's emotions: vulnerablility, insecurity, brokeness, and need to be loved. She painted a beautiful picture of wounded woman. Where she missed the mark big-time was in not nailing the charisma, sex appeal, bombshell MOVIE STAR quality that men were captivated by and women wanted to attain. Sorry, but Ms. Wiliams, as good of an actress as she is, simply lacks the glamour, punch and va-va-voom flair of an old Hollywood starlet. This was like casting Anne Hathaway to play Elizabeth Taylor - just wouldn't work. When playing someone famous, simply being a good actor won't do - you have to have at least *some* of the essence of the person being emulated. Marilyn was lost in her internal drama a lot of the time, but she knew how turn it on and sell the showgirl image for the cameras. Williams seemed to just be growing through the motions and looked painfully uncomfortable in any scene where Marilyn had to be "on". You get the sense that she's a painfully shy/quiet person and couldn't turn up the personality enough notches to be believable as a 50's movie star. This is where finding an actress who had a background in musical theater would have made a world of difference. [No one knows how to "sell it" better than a Broadway actress!].

The poor casting continued with Julia Ormond [laughably] as Vivien Leigh. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING about Ormond's looks and performance remotely resembled the icon america came to know and love as Scarlett O'Hara.

The only saving grace acting-wise is Kenneth Branaugh who nailed Sir Lawrence Oliver down to the very last crisply-accentuated syllable. Well done! Dougray Scott was pretty good as Arthur Miller, but [sadly] was not in many scenes.

Performances aside, the movie was slow, predictable, dull and felt inauthentic.

An aspiring young filmmaker spent a short time in 1956 on the set of a Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe film as an assistant director. He became close to Marilyn as many men had, and ended up a key figure in the production. Marilyn Monroe was notoriously difficult to work with in Hollywood and that is well-dramatized here. Michelle Williams IS Marilyn Monroe in this one and her performance highlights a realistic look at the difficulties that Marilyn had with trying to be a serious Hollywood actress while dealing with her insecurities and a prescription drug habit. This film was a pleasant surprise and another terrific movie to see during the holiday season.