Susan Granger’s review of “Me and Orson Welles” (ID)
When you hear the name Orson Welles, you think “Citizen Kane,” right? But before that 1941 cinematic masterpiece, Welles revolutionized New York theater and radio.
This coming-of-age story, set in 1937, revolves around the few days that a 17 year-old theater buff, Richard Samuels (Zac Efron), spent in the company of 22 year-old Orson Welles (Christian McKay), who was staging a risky, modern-dress version of “Julius Caesar” at the newly formed Mercury Theater that Welles founded with John Houseman.
“This is the story of one week in my life,” Richard says. “It was the week I slept in Orson Welles’ pajamas. It was the week I fell in love. It was the week I fell out of love.”
When Richard has the audacity to do an impetuous, curbside audition for Welles, he’s given a bit part and catapulted into the intoxicating, creative world inhabited by Welles’ icy, ambitious assistant Sonja Jones (Claire Danes), who coolly informs him that he’ll get no money, “just the opportunity to be sprayed by Orson’s spit.”
Working from Holly Gent Palmo and Vince Palmo’s uneven screenplay, based on Robert Kaplow’s meticulously researched young-adult novel, director Richard Linklater (“School of Rock,” “Before Sunset”) adroitly places the fictional Richard into a realistic context. While the plausible, behind-the-scenes vignettes are fascinating, the awkward romantic subplot flounders. What makes this concept work is Christian McKay’s astounding physical resemblance to Welles and his perceptive, spellbinding impersonation; McKay previously played Welles on-stage in “Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles.” What diminishes the believability is Zac Efron’s performance which is disconcertingly similar to his Disney “High School Musicals;” Efron never manages to convey the transformational emotional arc of his character. On the other hand, Ben Chaplin, Zoe Kazan, James Tupper, Eddie Marsan and Kelly Reilly entertain in supporting roles.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Me and Orson Welles” is a spirited 7. And if arcane theatrical history intrigues you, check out Tim Robbins’ “Cradle Will Rock” (1999) about the Federal Theater’s staging of a pro-labor musical, also in 1937.
