( CNN ) -- Sometimes an actor takes on the role of an iconic figure and they do a good job . Sometimes they do a lousy job . But sometimes , very rarely , they disappear into their role so perfectly that all you have left is the person they 're playing . Such is the case with Michelle Williams in Simon Curtis ' moving and thoroughly enjoyable `` My Week With Marilyn . '' About 15 minutes into the film , the first she 's been called on to completely carry , Williams vanishes . All that remains is Marilyn . It 's a magnificent performance and one of the most heartbreaking celebrity stories there is . In the summer of 1956 , Marilyn Monroe , newly married to writer Arthur Miller ( Dougray Scott ) , traveled to England to shoot `` The Prince and the Showgirl '' with co-star/director Laurence Olivier ( Kenneth Branagh ) . The third assistant director , aka gofer , on that production was Colin Clark ( Eddie Redmayne ) , a 24- year-old aspiring filmmaker on whose memoir the film is based . He rapidly became Monroe 's confidant and ally , the only person on the crew on whom she could rely . Needless to say , he fell hopelessly in love with her , but really , what choice did he have ? Marilyn Monroe was like a lottery ticket . You know you 're not going to win , but when those numbers come up , damned if you 're not sure you 're going to pocket millions . Of course Colin would n't actually have won had he ended up with Monroe , but she was someone who men desperately wanted to take care of . After all , she was Marilyn Monroe . That 's a roll of the dice very few would be able to pass up . As Monroe , Williams is nothing short of dazzling . She 's managed to inhabit perhaps the most iconic woman in American history and not only her public persona , at that . To do a decent job of mimicking a well-known figure , all one has to do is capture their mannerisms and voice and let the makeup department handle the rest . However to truly capture the essence of someone , the actor has to convince us that we 're watching them , not an actor playing them . We have to believe that if , for example , no record of that person in casual situations exists , the actor has captured what they would actually be like . We have all seen images of Marilyn Monroe , Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley , perhaps the three most-famous pre-Michael Jackson entertainers in history , in public , on stage or in films . But there 's very little recorded of them in private times . What Williams does is create a fully realized portrait of Monroe . It does n't matter if her portrayal is 100 % accurate . It feels 100 % accurate . As for the production within the film , Monroe 's reputation of difficulty on the set follows her to England , and what 's more , she brings acting coach Paula Strasberg ( wife of famed acting teacher Lee , played by ZoÃ « Wanamaker ) with her . Whenever things get rough for her , which was often , Marilyn retreats to her dressing room or cottage with Paula , leaving Olivier to stew and the production be damned . As the director and star , Olivier is used to getting his way and is not a method actor . He does n't understand Monroe 's need to believe in her character and finds her questions about motivation frustrating . One ca n't help but be reminded of the ( likely at least partially apocryphal ) story about Olivier on the set of `` Marathon Man '' when , after Dustin Hoffman has stayed up all night supposedly to accurately portray his character 's state of mind , Olivier retorted with something along the lines of : `` Why do n't you try acting , dear boy . It 's so much easier . '' It 's a case of when styles collide and at one point Branagh explodes on set that `` teaching Marilyn how to act is like trying to teach Urdu to a badger ! '' It 's a great line , and Branagh is excellent as Olivier . It serves to underscore the differences in their styles and how frustrating Monroe 's behavior was for Olivier . For her part , Olivier 's bluster turned Monroe 's already present insecurities into full-blown panic attacks . When you 're watching Williams go through Monroe 's struggle with self-doubt and an increasingly serious pill problem , there 's no doubt in your mind that it 's Marilyn Monroe . You feel her pain , her fears and , on a rare occasion , her joy . Williams perfectly captures Monroe 's legendary vulnerabilities and in the culmination of a series of scenes , the duality of Norma Jeane Baker , the person she was , and Marilyn Monroe , the woman she became . After an afternoon spent secretly touring Windsor Castle , courtesy of Sir Owen Morshead ( Colin 's godfather and the castle librarian , played by Derek Jacobi ) , Colin and Monroe are spotted by castle staff . Leaning into Colin , Monroe whispers `` Shall I be her ? '' and instantly , Norma Jeane disappears and Marilyn is there , shimmying , posing and doing exactly what 's expected of her . It seems like she gets a kick out of it but at the same time , there 's a sadness in her leaving Norma Jeane behind , once again . At once lightweight and melancholy , `` My Week With Marilyn '' does n't purport to reveal any deep , dark secrets or illuminate any truths that we already do n't know . In fact , we do n't know for certain that any of this actually happened at all . I 'd like to think that it did , though . `` My Week With Marilyn '' is rated R and contains some foul language , pill-popping and some discrete female nudity .
As Marilyn Monroe , Vanessa Williams is nothing short of dazzling . What she does is create a fully realized portrait of Monroe . ` ` My Life With Marilyn '' does n't purport to reveal any deep , dark secrets .