Me And Orson Welles

Synopsis: In New York in 1937 aspiring actor Richard Samuels (Zac Efron) lands the break of a life-time. He is picked by Orson Welles (Christian McKay) to appear in the famous director’s production of Julius Caesar to be held in Welles’s newly-opened Mercury Theatre. However as Shakespeare put it, all that glisters is not gold.

Richard Linklater is a bit of a specialist in films about being a teen (rather than teen films). From the graduation year comedy drama Dazed And Confused in 1993, to Jack Black’s adult-teen in School Of Rock (2003) he has now moved on to a coming-of-age story set in the late 1930s. It is a charming film that stylistically seems to owe much to Woody Allen’s films such as Radio Days (1987) and Sweet And Lowdown (1999) – all are carefully-crafted, unreservedly nostalgic period pieces with a neatly-drawn narrative arc underscored by toe-tappin’ swing music.

Based on a novel by Robert Kaplow, the film nicely interweaves the stories of Welles putting together his now-famous stage production of 'Julius Caesar' and of a young man’s first love, that of  Richard for Sonja (Claire Danes), Welles' secretary. The emphasis is much more on Welles and his repertory company including Joseph Cotton (James Tupper) and George Coulouris (Ben Chaplin), along with John Houseman (Eddie Marsan), Welles' partner and business manager. As a portrait of the theatre world of the time the film is a delight. The art and costume design is wonderful (from the end credits it seems that the film was largely shot on the Isle of Man) and Linklater gives a portion of the latter part of the film to re-creating Welles’ production. The romance is the minor theme but it is a charming one, told more through allusion than direct representation.

Of course if you’ve got Orson Welles as one of your characters it is not likely that anyone else is going to get much of a look-in. Zac Efron, of the High School Musical  phenomenon, does a decent job as ”Me” and Claire Danes is suitably heartbreakingly attractive, albeit probably a little too old for the role. It is, however, Christian McKay as Welles that the film revolves around. One has to say that McKay was a remarkable find (before making this movie, he had played Welles in a stage play which is presumably how he got to be here). Not only does he reproduce the distinctive quality of Welles’ voice and his facial mannerisms, he captures the man’s persona with its all charm and arrogance, its spontaneity and calculatedness. It also helps that he also looks more than a little like Welles.

Although originally premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2008, Linklater’s film has struggled to find distribution and it is easy to see why. The presence of Zac Efron is misleading, Christian McKay is the real star of the show and the film’s appeal will be largely for audiences who enjoy films about the world of theatre and have at least a passing knowledge of the legendary Orson Welles, in these times.probably a diminishing demographic. Me And Orson Welles is better than its title suggests but Christian McKay's performance alone makes it well worth while.

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