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In a truly baffling turn of events, I am pleasantly surprised to recognize Zac Efron as a talented actor. Obviously, this has been a mystifying debate for years but I believe the facts are on my side.
Mr. Efron’s past films include the trifecta of “High School Musical” series and the teen sensation “17 Again”. In “Me and Orson Welles”, Efron has dropped singing wonder Troy Bolton and introduced a much quieter version of himself playing the still 17 actor on Orson Welle’s self-directed 1937 play of Julius Caesar.
The story begins with Richard (Efron) having a chance meeting with theater renowned director Orson Welles (Christian McKay). Welle’s arbitrarily picked up Richard as the new Lucius for the opening of his play in less than one week at The Mercury Theatre in New York City.
Having known very little about Orson beforehand, I was immediately drawn into his character, as I had no preconceived notions of what kind of person he was. If all is true, Welle’s is easily one of the most narcissistic people I have yet to learn about.
McKay did a spectacular job portraying the egotistical character of a boisterous, vain, manipulative man who is recognized as one of the most proficient artists of the 20th century.
Director Richard Linklater (A Scanner Darkly, Before Sunset) fantastically depicted a man that lived a dual life in more than one way. Hated on set, but loved by audiences, living a secret life of multiples mistresses, he all-the-while kept delivering one inspiring quote after another. McKay represented a man whose vast love for the theater was nearly on par with the love he felt for himself. His contrast worked wonders for the film as I kept getting flip flopped back and forth between hating him and admiring his many poignant lines in the film.
For instance, a line like, “When I look in your eyes I see imagines of magnificence” may sound pleasing to the ear, but in fact only mirrors the lies and deceptions of conceited self.
As the story progresses, we get to see Efron’s suave style smooth over Welle’s assistant Sonja Jones (Claire Danes) as he soon falls head over heals for the gorgeous actress. What I enjoyed about Efron’s character, besides his literally too-cool-for-school attitude was how Linklater truthfully portrayed him as an adolescent 17-year-old boy (only with more swag).
I can easily recommend this film to plethora of demographics; teens, poets, actors, and critics alike would enjoy what it has to offer. Christian McKay particularly floored critics having won the Austin Film Award and Breakthrough Artist Award at the Austin Film Critics Association. Actors and directors alike would also enjoy the 9-minute scene in the later half of the film dedicated to the actual performance of Julius Caesar.
Me and Orson Welles will be available on DVD within the next couple months.
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