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ME AND ORSON WELLES |
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The last we saw of Zac Efron, he was playing the younger, teen-aged version of Mike
O'Donnell in the recent film "17 Again". If I recall it was a somewhat amusing piece - but nothing to write home about! The last time we saw Director Richard Linklater he gave us
"Fast Food Nation" which was moderately amusing but failed to get me to give up on McDonald's! Yet here these two with mediocre histories come together to present
a very good film about one of the most enigmatic characters in Hollywood history... Orson Welles. "Me and Orson Welles" examines a man whom some have determined as one of the true geniuses
of film-making and indeed performing arts. |
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"Me and Orson Welles" takes us back to his days with the Mercury Theatre in New York as it fanatically prepares with
a very important live work that would be considered one of Mr. Welles most important works. No, not War of the Worlds (that turned the world topsy turvy). Instead Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar. The film accurately depicts how Welles, as the director, dressed his protagonists in uniforms reminiscent
of those common at the time in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, as well as drawing a specific
analogy between Caesar and Benito Mussolini. Welles' cleverly pared-down the script -
without an interval with several characters eliminated, dialogue was moved around and borrowed
from other plays, and the final two acts were reduced to a single scene. It was a radical and
innovative way of cutting away peripheral elements of Shakespeare's tale.
The actor chosen to portray Welles is Christian McKay who captured the maniacal
and egotistical essence of Welles in every sense of the word. He treated his cast like crap - making it clear to them it was
an honor for them to work with him and not vice versa. He encounters and hires Richard Samuels (Efron) who, while ditching high school,
auditions for the minor but important part of Lucius. Samuels pushes himself of as an adult and gets a first hand look at
what it was like to be an actor. He gets tips form Joseph Cotten (James Tupper) on how to pick up
and nail women. Which brings us quickly to the object of young Samuels desires ... and ultimately his
own downfall... Sonja (Claire Danes). Indeed Cotten has been trying to nail Sonja to no avail while
young Samuels becomes something of an object of her desire. |
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She beds Samuels either out of curiosity or sheer lust, but it
gives him cause to think that she really wants him. Alas, her only interest is to get ahead in theatre. her interest in working for
Mr. Welles is only so he would introduce her to his old pal David O'Selznik (producer of Gone With the Wind and other films).
Getting ahead was her only interest - she was very matter of fact about it. But young Samuel doesn't hear and becomes forlorn when she informs him that she will be
giving Mr. Welles a run through her earthly delights. This creates a conflict between he and Welles that could jeopardize the opening of the play. It pits the old veteran against the young upstart with both
Efron and McKay playing well off each other. Especially McKay who nails (and resembles) Welles almost
perfectly. He creates himself as bigger than life and thus his productions are bigger than life. "Me and Orson Welles" is a wonderful film that will remind us how truly talented and eccentric
Orson Welles truly was. Though long dead almost 25 years ago, Welles lives on in this terrific docudrama that even he would have admired. --GEOFFREY BURTON
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