Me & Orson Welles [HD]

A stunning performance!
Orson Welles was a genius in many, many areas. He was an incredible actor, a brilliant director and a showman of the first order. He was also, from many accounts, a major jerk; obsessive and controlling, manipulative and unpleasant. Someone who at least as nasty to his friends as to his enemies. He was, to lift a quote from a certain movie, not a brutal man, but a man who did brutal things.

All these elements of his considerable personality are on display in Richard Linkletter's newest film, Me and Orson Welles. The movie tells the story of a seventeen-year-old boy named Richard (though he's mostly referred to as "Junior"). He's played by Zac Efron (looking sexier than ever), in his finest role to date, which isn't saying a lot.

Richard is a reasonably naive boy who winds up meeting Welles as the great man is preparing for his 1937 stage production of Julius Caesar, a ground-breaking presentation that moved the story into modern times, dressing the cast in...

It's Welles' World and Everyone Else Just Exists in It Thanks to McKay's Masterful Turn
I wish this small-scale 2009 indie focused far more on the most charismatic person in the cast. Foreboding with a glaring certainty and a penchant for spewing venom at anyone he deems unworthy of his attention, Christian McKay makes the young Orson Welles come alive as the intimidating megalomaniac he had to have been to create a masterpiece like Citizen Kane. In 1937, he was only 22 when he mounted a contemporary version of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" with his legendary troupe, the Mercury Theater, which showcased his prodigious theatrical genius, and his idiosyncratic blend of swagger and insight transcended the backstage chaos that would yield a stage triumph. Welles was the type of man who would shower his cast with hyperbolic praise and then just as suddenly, crush them with harsh criticism.

However, director Richard Linklater (...

A tour de force by Christian Mckay
Richard Linklater has always been one with an ear for the gab. In his movies dialogues don't just exist to fill in the silent moments, but they are there because it reflects the feel of the movie and the ethos of the character. This movie is no exception. It reminds you of the 50s and 60s where the banter and repartee was a marked characterstic of Bogart movies.

Christian Mckay is a revelation. As Orson Welles, he brings every bit of the gravitas, arrogance and brilliance that the role demands. He moves effortlessly among the various skins of Orson Welles - from the stubborn artist to the brilliant actor and everything in between.

Apart from McKay, Claire Danes is wonderful as the career minded icequeen. Zac Efron is passable as the rookie.

Definitely worth a watch

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