Review: Me and Orson Welles

"Me and Orson Welles" is a love letter to the theatre, to youth, to the movies, and to Orson Welles.

"Me and Orson Welles" is a difficult movie to resist, it carries all the right elements of a crowd pleaser and it delivers, it's great Hollywood entertainment that isn't made much anymore, so it's a treat to sit and watch it.

The story of "Me and Orson Welles" takes place in 1937, only two years before Welles would make a splash with his radio version of "War of the Worlds" and four years before he would make film history with "Citizen Kane". Welles (Played here by Christian McCay) is the head of his Mercury Theatre company who are currently putting on a new production of "Julius Caesar" in New York. We see the production through the eyes of young Richard (Zac Efron), a young kid with aspirations who, after lying to Welles about playing the ukelele is hired on the spot in a small part.

The film takes place during the week before the show has its premier. At the beginning, it seems like the production is destined for disaster, thanks in large part to Welles' massive ego. Welles doesn't compromise his vision, he treats his actors and technicians as puppets who's only purpose is to serve his vision. However Welles is hard to resist, he's charming and charismatic, and he knows this more than anybody, we the audience are even charmed by him, this isn't accomplished because of Welles' personality, but because of McCay's uncanny performance of him.

However the real story of the film is young Richard, who throughout the week comes of age. Richard develops a relationship with a production assistant Sonja (Claire Danes), a slightly older woman with her own ambitions that causes some moral complications. Outside of the theatre, Richard also forms a bond between an eccentric young girl named Gretta (Zoe Kazan) who he meets at the beginning of the film in a music store. Gretta keeps popping up and as things in Richard's life seem to be less and less innocent, she remains the only honest person in the film.

In a darker sense of the film, "Me and Orson Welles" could really be about the sacrifice that one does for their art. For Orson, he sacrifices the people closest to him and alienates them, among them, his pregnant wife who is alluded to all too briefly. For Richard, he sacrifices his innocence, and is forced to grow up faster than he expected, for Sonja, she sacrifices her purity for higher ambitions.

All of these themes are in the film, but director Richard Linklater keeps them below the surface, and keeps things mostly light, and charming.

I enjoyed the look of the film, which makes you feel like you're in a depression era Hollywood movie. In fact the depression is never really alluded too, no doubt because this is the glamour world of theatre and art that Richard is entering.

The supporting characters are all colourful, and Linklater gives them all a chance to shine. However I would say McCay steals the show as Welles, after seeing his performance, I would say it was probably the most overlooked of 2009, and it's a crime he wasn't nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

I wish films like "Me and Orson Welles" are made more often, every once in awhile, I would catch myself with a smile on my face. Some might say it's a film that manipulates you, that charms you into liking it, well after seeing this film, you could say the same thing about Orson Welles.