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Moviola > Films >
Me and Orson Welles
Me & Orson Welles (12A)
114 mins
"All's fair in love and theater."
Director: Richard Linklater
Screenplay: Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent
Palmo Jr from Robert Kaplow's novel
Cinematography: Dick Pope
Original music: Michael J McEvoy
Me and Orson Welles
is set in the exciting world of the New York Theatre. Teenage student Richard
Samuels (Zac Efron) lucks his way into a bit part in the legendary 1937 Mercury
Theatre production of Julius Caesar, directed by a youthful Orson Welles
(newcomer Christian McKay), and so finds himself rubbing shoulders with a cast
that includes Joseph Cotten (James Tupper, a dead ringer for the original) and
George Coulouris (Ben Chaplin).
Welles is a bullish, competitive character who is having an affair with the
leading lady, Muriel Brassler (Kelly Reilly) despite his wife Virginia's
pregnancy, and he alternately encourages his actors by assuring them that he
sees greatness in their eyes, and bullies them into submission to his genius.
Over the course of a magical week, Richard makes his Broadway debut, falls in
love with Welles's assistant Sonja (Claire Danes), an ambitious older woman
focused on her dream of meeting David O Selznick, and experiences the dark side
of genius after daring to cross the imperious, brilliant Welles. Richard has to
grow up, and fast.
"The story of a
teenager’s sometimes uncomfortable brush with greatness,
it is necessary viewing for anyone whose imagination has
been seduced by the charms of art. Which can be a
painful, disillusioning experience as well as a source
of exhilaration. This, at any rate, is what Richard, Mr.
Efron’s character, discovers when he stumbles into the
Mercury’s production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar,
directed by a bombastic young fellow who lends his name
to the film’s title and to so much else besides. War
of the Worlds and Citizen Kane are still in
the future, as are the triumphs and brutal
disappointments of Welles’s postwar career, but the ego
and the brilliance are in full blossom. They are
captured, with a brio and wit that puts most biopic
mummery to shame, by Christian McKay, a British actor
with a slender résumé and superhuman confidence. His
evident relish in the dimensions of this role is a
crucial part of the performance. It’s so much fun to
play Orson Welles because it must have been at least as
much fun to be Orson Welles." New York Times
"Richard
Linklater's Me and Orson Welles is one of the best movies about the
theater I've ever seen." Roger Ebert
"Where
Me
And
Orson
Welles
truly
succeeds
is with
McKay.
A
British
actor
who has
just a
handful
of stage
and TV
credits,
it's
impossible
to take
your
eyes off
him as
he
brings
his
character
to
roaring,
tyrannical
life."
Daily
Mirror
For more information, and to see a trailer
and stills, visit the official website at
www.meandorsonwellesthemovie.com
Showing:
06-Oct
Minstead
16-Nov
Pewsey
08-Dec
Sherborne
10-Dec
Brockenhurst
13-Dec
Emsworth
Last
modified:
19-Aug-2010
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