Review of Me and Orson Welles (2008) by Wes K — 13 Oct 2009

Here is a film that has both an excellent story, fine production values and a feast of fine acting. Moreover it is a film that anyone with an interest in film history will find both absorbing and illuminating about Welles' career in Nwew York prior to his move to the west coast to start work on 'Citizen Kane'. The man who, as a film director, was critics' darling but box office poison, is shown wowing both public and press with his production of 'Caesar'.

No one who has seen Richard Linklater's earlier films will be surprised by the care and sympathy with which he depicts his characters, both the famous (Welles, Joseph Cotton, George Coulouris, John Houseman) and fictitious ('Me') or the care with which he observes depression-era New York yet maintains a lightness and humour that convinces as a portrait of a highly talented theatre company gathered like moths round the radiance of Welles' wayward genius.

The only advice is to get to see this movie early so you urge your friends to see it - and go with them for a second visit.