Review of Me and Orson Welles (2008) by Nkem U — 27 Dec 2009

I went into this movie expecting to like it very much based on the trailer I had seen. I was somewhat disappointed to my dismay. I have no problem with long movies when the length is warranted by a good story, and I am always glad to have a dialogue heavy movie (with good dialogue) but I think the main problems I had with this movie involved the slow feel of the plot, the emphasis placed on recreating the 1930s sucked a great deal of the energy from the other aspects of the film.

The other glaring flaw of this movie is it's star Efron. I have no problem with Mr. Efron outside of High School Musical (I have no love of musicals but this disney cult dribble is too much to stomach) but his skills are limited to looks of shock, pretty boy shots, and certain aspects of comedy.

Efron fails to shake off his teen idol status in his first truly serious role (despite it including seeming Efron staples singing and dancing, this time with no basketball). Efron's performance brings me to the best aspect of this movie aside from the quality of the cinematography as well as the 1930s recreation (the quality of the recreation stands strong on its own merits) and that is the performance of the actor who played Orson Welles.

It was a truly realistic and powerful performance. I didn't hate this movie I didn't love it either, it was a forgettable but decent film. My only recomendation is that Efron try a little harder to broaden his range and drop the teen idol speel.