Review of Me and Orson Welles (2008) by Justin J — 13 Jul 2010

A disappointing effort from director Richard Linklater, whose films are typically less forced and overt than what is on display here.

Zac Efron is, to put it charitably, a non-entity as an actor. Vacuous, flavorless, a pretty face incapable of anything resembling verisimilitudinous emoting, Efron seems to be nothing more than an acting robot responding mechanically to script cues.

While Christian McKay bears a fair resemblance to Welles and does an amiable impersonation, it is curious that Linklater would cast a 35 year-old man (who, meaning no offense, looks every bit of his 35 years) to play the 21 year-old wunderkind. This, I think, serves to undermine that which "Me and Orson Welles" labors to the point of pedantry to convince us: namely, that Orson Welles was a genius, an eccentric, a unique individual, one-of-a-kind, and so on. Indeed, part of the public fascination with Welles at the time was his reputation as a prodigy, a boy wonder. Casting a man approaching middle age to play Welles not only sells his genius short, it also seems clumsy coming from a director of such impeccable credentials as Linklater.