Me and Orson Welles

Nostalgia drips from 30s-era Welles film

ZAC EFRON (left) and Christian McKay (right) as Orson Welles in “Me and Orson Welles.”

“Me and Orson Welles” just breathes nostalgia.
Zac Efron plays a young, idealistic actor named Richard Samuels who ditches high school to become a member of Orson Welles’ acting troupe at the Mercury Theatre.
This fledging but talented group is attempting to put on Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” The pay isn’t too good. Nothing. The workload is heavy.
But the cast senses a greatness in Welles and vie to be part of the troupe and perhaps carve their own slice of fame.
As backdrops, Adolph Hitler is taking over in Europe. David O. Selznik is making a film called “Gone With the Wind.”
Efron’s character hungers to be an actor and Welles demands perfection from the start. Everyone must know their lines immediately and must know absolute pronunciation and voice diction.
There can be no room for error.
Welles, played by Christian McKay, is the absolute monarch of the troupe. All women must submit to him if asked.
Cast members know they can never disagree with Welles. When one member does, it eventually ends in dismissal.
In real life, Welles was called the Boy Genius and his talent was prevalent. While in his 20s he acted and produced “Citizen Kane,” a thinly disguised biography of newspaper magnet William Randolph Hurst. The film ranks No. 1 on most lists of the greatest films of all time.
But this takes place a few years before.
Claire Danes is Sonja Jones, an actor in the troupe. While there are numerous relationships amongst the cast, nobody apparently can seduce the lovely Jones.
Until young Zac comes along. And what kid wants to go to high school when he can bed beautiful actresses and appear in productions with the future Boy Genius of the entertainment industry?
Efron does an exceptional job as the young, naive actor, learning his craft and about life.
And McKay certainly looks and sounds like Welles. He nails down that distinctive voice made famous the world over when his theater troupe put together “The War of the Worlds,” the radio play that had the world thinking we were being invaded by aliens.
The Welles in this film knows how to be stern and absolute, as well as gentle and flattering.
Efron’s character gets a cold slap of worldly reality at the end of the film
There are many side characters, from actors to a young, would-be author the Efron character meets.
Richard Linklater directed this film. His wide-ranging talents are responsible for such films at “A Scanner Darkly,” “Dazed and Confused” and “School of Rock.”
This film got little notice when it was released in December 2009. It wasn’t in 3-D and Optimus Prime wasn’t a character.
But that doesn’t mean it isn’t deserving of attention. In fact, why not watch it as a double feature with “Citizen Kane?” Now that’s a good idea.

ME AND ORSON WELLES
• Directed by Richard Linklater
• Screenplay by Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo from a novel by Robert Kaplow
• Rated PG-13 for sexual references and smoking
• Runtime: 114 minutes
• 3 1/2 stars out of 4