Review of Me and Orson Welles (2008) by Asif K — 02 Jun 2011

Charming. Really charming. Perhaps too charming. It's good though, and pretty entertaining.

This is a fictionalized tale built around a real event. The film concerns a young student who happens to luck into getting a bit part in Orson Welles 1937 stage adaptation of Julius Caesar at the Mercury Theater, a production that was a radical take on the story that some say was more Welles than Shakespeare.

The film is a nice little behind the scenes look at theatrical productions, as well as a study of Welles and how difficult he was to work with. There's a some romance involved, but it's not overly sappy, and it's all fairly well played.

Efron is decent (which kind of surprised me), but he still needs some work. Also, he looked a bit too "dreamy". At any rate, this is at least a step towards a role that will really test his skills and give him some credibility and hopefully some respect. You know, the kind of role that really turns some one into an actor that people take seriously.

Danes is good in her role as the production assistant who has ambitions of getting to the top and will take about any measure necessary to get there. All the other supporting players are good too, but, as you may expect, this film really belongs to one person, and that is Christian McKay.

This film is, I believe, his first cinematic effort, though not his first crack at Welles. He's amazing, and does a great job at capturing the look, mannerisms, attitude, and most importantly, the voice, of one of history's greatest arrogant misunderstood geniuses.

I liked the production design here, and the end credits are nifty as well. The spirit of the times and the world of theater are nicely captured, and I think this film fits nicely into Linklater's body of work.

Give this one a shot. It's not a masterpiece, but it doesn't fail to deliver something that's fun, watchable ,and pretty well made.