Me & Orson Welles (2009)

PG-13, 1 hr. 53 min.   Directed by: Richard Linklater.  Release Date: November 25, 2009.  DVD Release Date: July 1, 2010.

This got better reviews than I really think it deserves, but I can’t tell you why I feel like I do on either part of the equation:  I enjoyed this movie.  I found it utterly guileless and charming, without pretense on any level, but not mindless.  But, I also thought it was kind of long and a bit slow.  It had aspects that felt anachronous, particularly the rather frank and open discussion and pursuit of sex, that made the movie feel a bit strange.  I agree with what I read elsewhere that this was a warm, heartfelt effort that made an attempt to humanize an acting legend and that the cast was nearly perfect in all of their roles.   That’s also true, but I’m not sure that the latter argument trumps the former.  So there were people out there who were getting something out of this movie that I didn’t get.   

It’s become clear to me that I’m becoming a fan of Zac Effron, but not all the time.  Now that he’s getting a bit older and has dumped his Disney/High School Musical days securely in his wake, I think he’s able to show a bit more of himself than might otherwise have been possible.   I’m not sure I’m ready to see him as a real grown up yet, but I especially like him in roles that don’t seem to have anything to do with his hair or his looks.  Charlie St. Cloud, while it got a bit weird in the end, was one of those movies, despite my complaints that a depression as sound as Charlie’s wouldn’t allow the guy to spend an hour on that signature Effron ‘do.  Orson Welles is another.  Effron’s performance here is a bit of awesome.  He’s likeable, all smiles and forthright intentions, the kind of guy I would like to have as a friend, although I admit I probably wouldn’t want to go to the bars with him because he was a bit of a stuffed shirt.  It is possible that Effron’s Richard is one of those characters you like despite his faults.  

Effron wasn’t the only good performance.  Claire Danes does a great job with a part that’s way too small, although I did frown a bit at the idea of Danes and Effron in a romantic relationship because even putting it kindly, she’s old enough to be his mother.  I guess that’s okay in and of itself, but he’s only supposed to be 17, and I didn’t enjoy that Danes’ entire role in the film was basically the Mercury Theater’s village bike.  Christian McKay put forward an awesome job as Orson Welles, and I suspect that he spent quite a bit of time studying up on Welles’ movements and manner of speech, because he was spookily accurate.

This is something that’s worth checking out, but I’m not sure it’s a movie I’d watch again willingly.  I also suspect it’s a movie that I won’t remember I’ve seen a year ago until I’m half way through it.  There’s a good cast, an interesting story, but it’s mired in a slow burn and acting that leans towards the high school pageant when you see them up on stage and they’re “acting.”  Orson Welles is certainly a solid film effort.