Friday, December 11, 2009
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Friday, December 11, 2009
MOVIE REVIEW
Me And Orson Welles
The Big Show And The Stagecraft Behind It
Christian McKay, excellent as
OrsonWelles, and Zac Efron as Richard Samuels in "Me
And Orson Welles", directed by Richard Linklater. The film opened today in
San Francisco.
Freestyle Releasing
By Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
Friday, December 11, 2009
Bursting with life, energy, passion and love, the sensational "Me And Orson
Welles" is one of the year's great and most entertaining triumphs. The
eclectic filmmaker Richard Linklater directs a gem about one actor's time in the
Orson Welles' acting troupe in 1937.
As played by Christian McKay, Orson Welles the man, the megalomaniac and genius
is brought vividly to life. Though Mr. McKay's role is essentially a lead
he's almost certain to be remembered come Oscar time in a supporting capacity
for his excellent work. He's a scenery chewer, but secreted deep within
his towering work are traces of his character's insecurity that only
occasionally arise.
Zac Efron wonderfully portrays Richard, a young and talented artist who can
sing, act and basically stand on his head while frying an egg on his feet in the
hot sun. Richard appears to be no match however for Welles, whose brisk,
vigorous and vituperative nature wears thin on a lot of the troupe at Welles'
famous Mercury Theater Company, where he's fine-tuning Julius Caesar
for its big New York City opening.
Clare Danes is great here as Sonja, a smart, sharp-tongued and decisive older
woman who knows the lay of the land and with whom Richard falls in love.
Richard essentially has one week to straighten up and fly right in order to
survive the grueling, break-neck pace that Welles employs. It will be an
education that he will never forget.
"Me And Orson Welles" is a sunny, very funny experience and Mr. Linklater
directs it with a "you are there" immediacy. He has an amazing ear and
capacity for recreating the chaotic atmosphere that is the stage world,
remaining true to both the essence of the time and place surrounding it.
Mr. Linklater, who has directed such wide-ranging efforts as "Slacker", "Before
Sunrise", "Fast Food Nation" and "School Of Rock", is full of surprises and
clever devices as he springs this charming and enjoyable entertainment upon us.
Special kudos must be given to the adapted screenplay written by Vince Palmo and
Holly Gent Palmo, which is priceless and almost certainly the year's best.
Their remarkable script is based on Robert Kaplow's book of the same title.
There's a nice subplot involving an aspiring writer Gretta Adler (Zoe Kazan) who
is looking to get her work published for the first time and the interplay
between Richard and Greta, is sweet and endearing, all thanks to Mr. Efron (seen
earlier this year in "17 Again") and Ms. Kazan, on
screen in today's release in San Francisco of
"The Private
Lives Of
Pippa Lee".
There are very good supporting performances by Ben Chaplin and Eddie Marsan in
particular. Mr. Chaplin plays a stage-shy performer who is readying for
his role as Mark Antony in Caesar and Mr. Marsan is the Mercury Theater Company
manager. He is brilliant here. But the star of this show is
undeniably Mr. McKay and he's worth much more than the price of admission here.
With: Kelly Reilly, James Tupper, Leo Bill, Al Weaver, Iain McKee, Simon Lee
Phillips, Simon Nehan, Imogen Poots, Patrick Kennedy.
"Me And Orson Welles" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture
Association Of America for sexual references and smoking. The film's running time is
one hour and 54 minutes.
Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
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