Me and Orson Welles

Me and Orson Welles (2008)

Directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Zac Efron, Christian McKay, Claire Danes.

Long story short: In 1937 the 17-year-old drama student Richard is cast, by a coincidence, in a play directed by Orson Welles and is thus given a change to pursue a life-long career in the world of theatre. If only he can survive Orson Welles.

I'd like to say I watched this film only because it's from the director of Before Sunrise (it was a contoributor, though!), or because it's about Orson Welles (can't say this was the reason, as I've never seen any of his films or anything), but let's just be honest and say I watched this film because of Zac Efron. Ha ha haa. Well. I have a soft spot for him, okay? And I wanted to see if he can really act properly.

Let's leave the teenage idols aside for a moment and let's look at Christian McKay, a fairly unknown British actor, who plays the brilliant, self-centered, proud Orson Welles. And plays him very very well, by the way! He dominates every scene he's in, like his supposed to. I don't know where this actor has been hiding and why he isn't being offered more and more major roles. He will appear on the upcoming Woody Allen film You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, but I can't be too exited about this, because I generally dislike Woody Allen films. Anyway.

Claire Danes plays Richard's love interest Sonja, who for some reason annoys me a bit. I loved her clothes, though. I loved all of their clothes! The clothes were one of the best things in the film. Why can't we dress like that anymore?

I also liked the setting. Theatres have always fascinated me. I like that the Shakespearian theatres don't differ that much from the modern theatres. Technology doesn't intefere with the oldest and noblest theatre tricks and traditions. It's cool. I've ofter dreamed about working in a theatre (when I haven't been too busy desperately dreaming about working in film or television industry). Well. Me and Orson Welles certainly doesn't make the industry seem very glamorous, but highly fascinating all the same.

Question: when will Zac Efron star in a film, in which he doesn't either a) sing, b) dance, or c) play basketball? I don't mind him doing these things, though, as I think he does all of them very well. At least singing and dancing. And my humble opinion is that he can act, too. I'm glad he stepped out of the comedy circles (though I though he actually was quite funny in 17 again) to something a bit more serious. Next he'll star in a drama Charlie St. Cloud, which seems okay, though horribly American and a bit plastic. But we'll see. The High School Musical/Disney star stigma will no doubt stay with Zac Efron for a long time, but I really do hope all the best for him.

And one more picture, just so we won't forget how ridiculously good-looking he is. As if we could, DUH!!

Hmm. I seem to have talked very little about the film itself. And well, it didn't provoke that many thoughts in me. Me and Orson Welles wasn't very surprising, nor ground-breaking in any way, but it was a delightful, genuine little film, that managed to make me smile and entertain me for an hour and a half. Many films can't manage to do even that.

Oh, and I liked the euphemism they had for sex. And the jokes around it. And how they skipped that one potential sex scene, accordingly. Haha.

"Hmm... Possibilities..."