Review of Me and Orson Welles (2008) by Waldo I — 20 Dec 2009

Orson Welles was just 22-years-old when he opened Julius Caesar at the Mercury Theatre in 1937, a distinction that isn't emphasized nearly enough by this film. His intellect, his total confidence, and the exactness of his vision are all the more remarkable in the context of his youth. Instead, we get glimpses of his fiery intellect through a 17-year-old Zac Efron (to whom Welles plays senior), a narrative window which is thoroughly under-dressed and completely disposable. It could've been so much more; as is, it's just a vehicle for a really good Orson Welles impression.

I wonder, was this really the movie Linklater wanted to make? I mean, did he want to tell the story of a high school student caught up in the whirlwind worlds of romance and theatre, or did he want to make a movie about Orson goddamn Welles? I guess it doesn't really matter, because he managed to fail at both.