Me & Orson Welles

I don’t get to say this often, but I just saw my favorite movie of the year. Me & Orson Welles is a rollicking period piece about a high school kid (Zac Efron) who gets cast in Welles’ landmark stage production of Julius Caesar. Efron’s character learns about theater, love and the monstrous ego of Welles, a larger-than-life persona perched on the periphery of world-wide fame.

ClearPlay In Action!

Me & Orson Welles is rated PG-13 for sexual references and smoking. About 70 incidents of language are cut from the ClearPlayed version, including anatomical references and allusions to sex. ClearPlayed, the movie is appropriate for most audiences, but particularly for fans of old movies, plays and, of course, Zac Efron.

Will Me & Orson Welles convince me that ‘the play is the thing’?…

Before I continue in my praise, I should admit that not everybody will like Welles. The title character (Orson, not Me) is unlikable, and there is no pat resolution that is totally satisfying. But as a window into an era when theatrical history was being made, it is outstanding. Christian McKay plays Welles with a panache and conceit that’s enviable, and he captures Welles’ trademark sonorous voice perfectly. Efron is good as usual as a precocious boy entering a man’s world, and Claire Danes is believable as his unexpected muse. The movie visually evokes scenes from Citizen Kane, too, so film buffs will be in movie heaven.

Marty Nabhan— ClearPlay “Break a Leg” Department

Rated PG-13 for sexual references and smoking.; 114 min; Directed By Richard Linklater