In praise of Michelle Williams.

I didn't get a chance to watch very many of this year's Oscar-nominated films before the awards ceremony. Last year, I made a point to watch as many Best Picture nominees as possible. I didn't get around to all of them, but I did see over half. This year, I only saw one. (Although I did get to see the film that housed Meryl Streep's winning performance.) Anyway, this week I saw My Week with Marilyn.

I was a little skeptical, just because the Marilyn biopic has been done so many times before in varying forms. The movie itself was not very impressive. The story had a few holes, and there was very little setup of the plot in the beginning. You're given a portrait of Marilyn that only extends over a very brief period of time, and there are characters whose opinions of Marilyn seem to have no basis, or are contradicting throughout the film. However, the saving grace of the movie is Michelle Williams. She embodied Marilyn in a way that I have never seen. The physical resemblance is minimal, but she felt Marilyn. It was obvious in the way that she moved, the way that she laughed, the way that she batted her eyes at men.

Many people will not know what is meant by this, but Michelle Williams was to Marilyn Monroe what Judy Davis was to Judy Garland. This is an incredibly high compliment to be paid, as I feel Judy Davis became Judy Garland when she portrayed her a decade ago. Both of these women, if only momentarily, make you forget you are not watching the true Hollywood star on screen. If not for the fact that Meryl Streep was PHENOMENAL in The Iron Lady, I would gladly put the words "Oscar winner" in front of Michelle Williams name on any possible occasion.

Isn't it amazing how Michelle Williams ended up being the best thing to come out of Dawson's Creek?