> Me and Orson Welles
3 stars (out of 5)
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Zac Efron, Christian McKay, Claire Danes, Ben Chaplin, James Tupper, Eddie Marsan, Leo Bill, Kelly Reilly, Zoe Kazan, Al Weaver, Saskia Reeves, Imogen Poots
Rating: (PG)
Working from a screenplay based on the Robert Kaplow novel of the same name, director Richard Linklater has strayed even further from slacker-type with Me and Orson Welles, after movies as diverse as Waking Life and Fast Food Nation.
Linklater's dramatisation of Orson Welles' early career suggests both bold homage and potential disaster. Linklater needs more than just period detail - he needs Orson Welles.
During one week in 1937, the young Welles is on a manic mission to set Broadway alight with his production of Julius Caesar. He takes an instant liking to Richard (Zac Efron), a student actor who quickly falls under his spell, and that of his assistant, Sonja Jones (Claire Danes).
As daunting as it is to portray Welles' early work on screen, it's nothing to actually standing in for Welles himself.
The most crucial aspect to the success of Me and Orson Welles is the casting of a young, impetuous and arrogant Welles. Step forward Christian McKay, who not only looks like the Citizen Kane-era Welles, but has every mannerism and note of Welles' affected accent down pat.
Unfortunately, despite McKay's studied brilliance, the film still frustrates. From the start it is pretty evident that a coming-of-age scenario is the crux, so when the drama finally happens you can almost hear Efron and Danes breathe a sigh of relief.
Not only do they get a chance to break out of the nod-nod, wink-wink mode; their characters can finally share the limelight with McKay's phenomenal portrayal of Welles.
Best thing: Christian McKay's eerily accurate portrayal of the big man.
Worst thing: The exhaustingly laboured set-up.
See it with: Anybody curious about Welles' early genius.
- Mark Orton.
