My Week With Marilyn tells the wrong story

Consider first half of the title My Week With Marilyn when setting your expectations for the film. Far from an insightful biopic about an iconic star, it’s the (apparently true) story of a young man’s masturbatory fantasy come to life. That fantasy belongs to Colin (Eddie Redmayne), whose job as an assistant to acting legend Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) morphs into a brief platonic-plus relationship with Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams). Give Williams credit for going beyond imitation---her Marilyn is both a talented, calculating sexpot and a stunted, drug-addled child surrounded by opportunists eager to commodify her curves. But this isn’t really Marilyn’s story, it’s Colin’s. So, instead of aiding Williams’ character investigation, director Simon Curtis focuses on the inanimate Redmayne and a dull story about how some dude got into a celebrity’s bed.