…………………………………………………

Me and Orson Welles Movie Review

Me and Orson Welles is a 2008 period drama film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Christian McKay, Zac Efron and Claire Danes. It’s a very weak movie.

………………………………………………….

“How the hell do I top this?“

…………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………..

It is about a teenager hired to perform in Orson Welles’s groundbreaking stage adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar who becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant. I don’t understand the point to this movie. That is my main issue with that, it’s as plain and as simple as that. The movie is so simple in its plot and so non-existent thematically speaking that it really bothered me.

And it’s not even that fun either. Yes, most of it is engaging to a degree, but far from truly entertaining. And these types of fluffy movies should be at least hugely entertaining in order to compensate for its lack of narrative sufficiencies. The film is charming for sure in its period piece trappings – the play has its fun moments, the personalities are memorable and the character interactions are excellent throughout.

Zac Efron was simply too old to play a teenager, but he was overall perfectly fine in the role. Claire Danes is also very good as Sonja Jones. I liked the relationship between the two, but overall the romantic entanglements were too much of a focus here.

Christian McKay is a breakout star as his performance here is absolutely superb. He becomes Orson Welles both physically and in speaking and behavior. I found him believable throughout and a great scene-stealer for sure.

However, I could not understand what was the point to all this. Again, the movie overall is problematic in that way, but Orson Welles’ characterization, though strong, left nothing of interest or importance to say. We did not get anything from this movie in terms of themes or the real exploration of the genius directors, which really bothered me.

…………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………..

Me and Orson Welles definitely looks terrific as the production design, the costume design and the editing are all quite strong. But Linklater’s direction here is among his weakest as it’s quite pedestrian. The dialogue is fine as is the humor, but the slightness is apparent through and through.

As its characters say about the play at the center of the movie, Me and Orson Welles itself is pretty much a film about nothing. Yes, it is very well acted with Christian McKay’s performance being very charismatic. It’s also very well made technically speaking. But, this is the kind of slight movie that has no themes to it whatsoever, it’s pointless and simply way too lightweight in approach and execution.

My Rating – 3

You can get Me and Orson Welles on Amazon.