Linklater taking on Orson Welles? Sign me up. The only thing really unfortunate about this movie is the title, the only justification of which I can tell is that the lead character is so young and brash that he thinks of himself before Orson Welles but ironically thinks so in grammatically incorrect terms. However, this not being backed up by an explanation, it may also just simply be a grammatically bad title. I do not know, all I know is that it's unfortunate.
Anyway, onto the actual movie itself. Orson Welles being a particularly iconic figure, not only for Citizen Kane but also for the independent film industry as a brash, young, intelligent egoist willing to stand up to the biggest of institutions, it is not surprising that independent filmmakers love to take him on. Here the story is something like Orson meeting Orson, where a younger, brash, slightly less intelligent egoist has his ten seconds of fame working side-by-side with Welles on the stage, and in the process making a dizzying, delightful, sexy ride of it, until the brakes are hit hard and bloody noses are bounced off a few dashboards.
Zac Efron plays Richard, a bored high school student who wants to be an actor (!). Or a writer (!). Or an artist (!). Or whatever, he ultimately has to admit, allows him to participate in the world where creativity meets fame. Strolling across the city one day after a very Linklaterian meeting with cute and reserved Gretta (Zoe Kazan), he manages to act as such an attention whore that he gets under the radar of none other than 37 year old Orson Welles (Christian McKay), currently producing his Nazi-themed version of Julius Caesar. Taken on board, Richard got game, but ultimately his own needy desire for recognition (and of course the always fun issue of a girl (Claire Danes)) eventually brings Orson Welles and Richard into conflict. And I mean c'mon, he's going up against Orson Welles! Actor to actor, of course, Richard doesn't stand a chance. Actor to actor otherwise, Zac Efron and Christian McKay are perfectly matched, McKay for his spot-on presentation of Welles' cigar-chewing egotism and Efron for having to hold the brunt of the movie on his back basically being the exact type of youth that once upon a time was Richard and these days is more recognized as that friend-whore on Facebook. It is like the matching of Amy Adams to Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia (what is it with these ampersands?!), where one plays a recognized historical figure to aplomb, and the other perfectly nails the navel-gazing millennial everyone despises, but it is to the actor's credit that such a vapid character ultimately ends up being engaging. To Efron's credit, he may not be perfectly embodying Orson Welles, but he is perfectly embodying the part of all of us that wants to be Orson Welles.
The rest of it, really, is all Linklater. Ultimately the shy and awkward girl is the right way to go, the intellectual discussions say more about the characters' own perspectives than about the story's themes, bright-eyed youth looks to the future despite being shackled by its own overeducated situation in too-much-free-time. Meanwhile, it is shot well, beautifully lit, drily humorous, and manages to make you feel a little sorry for Richard once he loses, even though the character deserves it. This is helped mostly by the fact that he doesn't really lose "What's Most Important" and he didn't know what he wanted in the first place. Great execution of a familiar theme.
Now. It is "Orson Welles and I"! --PolarisDiB
Anyway, onto the actual movie itself. Orson Welles being a particularly iconic figure, not only for Citizen Kane but also for the independent film industry as a brash, young, intelligent egoist willing to stand up to the biggest of institutions, it is not surprising that independent filmmakers love to take him on. Here the story is something like Orson meeting Orson, where a younger, brash, slightly less intelligent egoist has his ten seconds of fame working side-by-side with Welles on the stage, and in the process making a dizzying, delightful, sexy ride of it, until the brakes are hit hard and bloody noses are bounced off a few dashboards.
Zac Efron plays Richard, a bored high school student who wants to be an actor (!). Or a writer (!). Or an artist (!). Or whatever, he ultimately has to admit, allows him to participate in the world where creativity meets fame. Strolling across the city one day after a very Linklaterian meeting with cute and reserved Gretta (Zoe Kazan), he manages to act as such an attention whore that he gets under the radar of none other than 37 year old Orson Welles (Christian McKay), currently producing his Nazi-themed version of Julius Caesar. Taken on board, Richard got game, but ultimately his own needy desire for recognition (and of course the always fun issue of a girl (Claire Danes)) eventually brings Orson Welles and Richard into conflict. And I mean c'mon, he's going up against Orson Welles! Actor to actor, of course, Richard doesn't stand a chance. Actor to actor otherwise, Zac Efron and Christian McKay are perfectly matched, McKay for his spot-on presentation of Welles' cigar-chewing egotism and Efron for having to hold the brunt of the movie on his back basically being the exact type of youth that once upon a time was Richard and these days is more recognized as that friend-whore on Facebook. It is like the matching of Amy Adams to Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia (what is it with these ampersands?!), where one plays a recognized historical figure to aplomb, and the other perfectly nails the navel-gazing millennial everyone despises, but it is to the actor's credit that such a vapid character ultimately ends up being engaging. To Efron's credit, he may not be perfectly embodying Orson Welles, but he is perfectly embodying the part of all of us that wants to be Orson Welles.
The rest of it, really, is all Linklater. Ultimately the shy and awkward girl is the right way to go, the intellectual discussions say more about the characters' own perspectives than about the story's themes, bright-eyed youth looks to the future despite being shackled by its own overeducated situation in too-much-free-time. Meanwhile, it is shot well, beautifully lit, drily humorous, and manages to make you feel a little sorry for Richard once he loses, even though the character deserves it. This is helped mostly by the fact that he doesn't really lose "What's Most Important" and he didn't know what he wanted in the first place. Great execution of a familiar theme.
Now. It is "Orson Welles and I"! --PolarisDiB