Review of Me and Orson Welles (2008) by Jack G — 02 Dec 2009

It's an affectionate homage to Welles and a so-so coming-of-age story. I'm not impressed by Zak Efron; maybe part of it was the character, but now thinking more about it I'm not so sure, as I think another actor could have played it better or gotten better emotion even if it was written kinda wimpy (I have a feeling Linklater needed a name to sell the movie, and settled on this one despite it probably splitting the art-house and Efron fans).

The good news is that Christian McKay is nothing short of incredible. It really is that Oscar-caliber work of an actor filling a role completely; only Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa in 'Basterds' can top it for a full-rounded bravura supporting performance.

Unlike Waltz, however, McKay sometimes has to carry whole scenes by himself (especially those with the bland-but-pretty Zak), which is just as well. It's a compelling story mostly when focusing on Welles and his 'Julius Caesar production, and the rest of it is just alright.

A shame, as Linklater has a lot of entertaining material here, and directs with a smooth professional touch that hasn't been seen before- or at least not like this since School of Rock.