Movie Review: Me and Orson Welles (2009)
McKay gives one of the best performances of 2009
Photo: Freestyle Releasing
Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles is a hard one to put your finger on. It's got comedic elements, a baseline dramatic framework and then doesn't fully dedicate itself to being a coming-of-age story. However, despite my inability to nail it down in a nutshell, it's a great film with one of the better male performances of 2009.
The cast includes Zac Efron, Claire Danes, Ben Chaplin, Zoe Kazan, Eddie Marsan, Kelly Reilly, James Tupper, Christian McKay and Leo Bill. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"Me and Orson Welles" is a Freestyle Releasing release, directed by Richard Linklater and is rated PG-13 for sexual references and smoking. The running time is 1 hour 47 minutes.
The central focus is undoubtedly Richard as we see the movie through his eyes, but McKay is dominating as Welles in a performance that steals the show. I'd say this makes everyone else look meek in his shadow, but perhaps that's exactly as it was with Welles, a man that knew exactly what to say, what to do and when to do it. All in an effort to ensure things are done his way. He comes across as a madman of sorts and if you're in his presence you feel blessed. It's as if you are a part of his genius. After all, the film is set in 1937, one year before Welles was known for his "War of the Worlds" broadcast and most certainly before Citizen Kane. That said, McKay manages to bring to life elements of a Welles we would come to know and hear in the future.
The lengths people will go to please him and better their position in the industry are most reflected in the performance given by Claire Danes as Welles's production assistant Sonja Jones. Throughout most of the film Sonja speaks of her anticipated meeting with mega-producer David O. Selznick and proves nothing is taboo when it comes to protecting the longevity of your career.
Efron's Richard is the wide-eyed optimist in all of this as he gets more and more comfortable in his new surroundings. After all, it's much better than his "other" life he as a 17-year-old student, even though he hasn't given up on that life just yet. After all, if Me and Orson Welles is truly about anything, it's about youthful possibilities and the chasing of dreams. Even Welles is a youngster in this story.
It's about how you can have the golden ticket in your hand and how it can blow away just as quickly. The message, of course, is to not let the lost moment be the end of you as there is still always more to do.
Linklater co-wrote and directed one of my all-time favorite films in Before Sunset and there are many others to his credit that adorn my DVD shelf space, and again he has put together a film worth adding to that collection for repeated viewings. It's a film I suggest you take in at the theater and demand at your local art house cinema. If anything, it is a must see simply for McKay's performance alone.
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This is a movie I'm really looking forward to. When i heard of it initially, I thought this could be interesting… Then I heard that Zac "High School Musical" Efron was tapped to be in it, I was a little turned off by it… Then I found out that Richard Linklater was directing it… and my interest was back up again. Then I saw the trailer for it, and became immediately stoked for it. So it's definitely been a roller coaster for me. After reading this review, I'm going to definitely see it this weekend, well hopefully… either this or 'The Road', if not both….
Zac Efron is a sucker! After an impressive initial success with 17 again (it impressively made as much overseas as domestically, proving he's an international star), he is taking the very common advice to do "serious" roles so that he can be taken seriously by the establishment. Epic Fail!!! People will take you seriously if you are successful! He needs to solidify his success before doing art films. Even Angelina Jolie is doing another action movie, in part to show she's still a player. Her drama side projects, which she hopes will become bigger successes, would doom her if she couldn't prove she could command the box office once in a while. Miley Cyrus wants to be successful, so she won't make this rookie mistake.