Review of Me and Orson Welles (2008) by Paul S — 31 Jan 2013

In yet another fictional biopic (like My Week With Marilyn), Me And Orson Welles is about a larger than life character,and a time and a place. The year is 1937 and Welles is set to produce and star in his groundbreaking interpretation of Julius Caesar. Just as Marilyn gets inside the film industry, here we get a wonderful peak inside a Broadway production (and as an added bonus a radio production as well).

While the story may be a tried and true method - young high schooler is in the right place at the right time and fate allows him to be included in the production of Caesar - where the film truly shines is when it focuses on the production and the whirlwind who stirs the drink, Orson Welles. In a fantastic and Oscar worthy performance Christian McKay brings the man to life, warts and all. His charisma, his charm, his insecurities are all on display and after the first five minutes you truly feel that you are watching Welles in action.

Director Richard Linklater wonderfully decided to film this piece in a decidedly 1940-50's noir style. From the way each scene is set up to the way the characters interact - all solidly inside the genre.

The ensemble acting is solid as is the brazen, self confident youth portrayed by Zac Efron, and the so called love interest in the story, portrayed by Claire Danes. It all works, but it is McKay as Welles who demands your attention. The script has a few flaws and occasionally teeters towards the melodrama that you find in the noir style, but there are gems aplenty here. For example, when a couple of actors are talking with Efron and saying that in a book, all the "action" (read sex) takes place during the quadruple space. Meaning that the book will give you a lead up like "they looked longingly into each others eyes and then she reached over and turned out the lights". "The next morning..." - see, the action happened during those extra spaces.

There is also a wonderful scene where Welles reads a segment of The Magnificent Ambersons (which he later made into a film) to Efron and then manages to ad lib the passage into a radio broadcast he takes part in an hour later.

Through it all you get a glimpse at the genius that was Welles through his production of Julius Caesar. In 1937 fascism was on the rise, so staging the play in modern garb gave an entirely different spin to the tale. You also see how Welles was in control of every aspect of the production - this was his vision, from stage cues to how and when the orchestra would be heard from. The filming of opening night was wonderful and the film could have easily ended with Welles looking out at the standing ovation and asking himself "how am I going to ever top this?" That the film didn't end here was a slight misstep, as it tried to show that the film was really more about Efron than Welles - but we all know better.