Advanced Search Beta »
Basic Search Fields
Me and Orson Welles
User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15

Review this movie

  1. Your Score
    10 out of 10
    Rate this:
    out of 10
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling

  3. Characters remaining: 5000 out of 5000

view
per page
  1. RichardE.
    Jan 4, 2010
    9
    This might not be true for users, but some of the professional critics seem to have missed the irony of Welles's anti-fascist _Caesar_ being staged by a guy who gleeful acted like an autocrat. Maybe too many Americans accept the Romantic idea of the director as The Artist as Hero and allow him — and maybe her, if women get the chance — to impose his will on underlings. There's a fair chance Shakespeare's company was more democratic in productions, with the "demos" probably limited to the share-holders, but at least potentially there. I'm not sure auteurs = progress. The movie raised the issue, and was a lot of fun to watch.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. EdwardK.
    Dec 26, 2009
    7
    A very entertaining movie, but not a great one. How I would have loved to have seen Welles's production of Caesar, however!
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. AmyB
    Dec 7, 2009
    9
    Watch this movie just for Christian MacKay, who plays a demented Orson Welles that will shock you.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  4. WilsonS.
    Dec 27, 2009
    5
    Too self-consciously a period piece, but pleasant enough.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  5. Bairdo
    Sep 22, 2010
    6
    Yeah yeah, "magic of the theater" and all that. Too much "Me" and not enough "Orson Welles". No offence to Zac Efron (look, I spelled his name right, there's no k in Zac), but.....yeah ok, a little bit of offence to Zac Efron. Not because of his acting, but because I yawned like I had two beers in me.
  6. Deathromp
    Apr 1, 2011
    8
    The bone-deep understanding that your life is so utterly without meaning. That simply to survive you have to reinvent yourself. Because if people can’t find you... they can’t dislike you. You see, if I can be Brutus for 90 minutes tonight...I mean, really be him, from the inside out, then for 90 minutes I get this miraculous reprieve from being myself.
  7. CitizenCharlie
    May 5, 2011
    6
    Who had the larger ego, Orson Welles or Julius Caesar? I have heard about the legendary Orson Welles ego and the film ‘Me and Orson Welles’ does a good job at showing how overbearing and self important he could be. Set mostly in the Mercury Theatre while trying to bring his version of Julius Caesar to life, Orson Welles made sure everyone knows just who the lord and master is. He is the director, writer, star, set designer, composer, etc… God forbid if you actually were the one doing the work and asks for credit, no one dares try and take any credit when Orson Welles is involved. Welles indeed comes across as somewhat of a brilliant man in this movie, but also a raging **** If he truly acted like that in reality, then it gives some amount of pleasure that he faded away into obese obscurity after Citizen Kane and the Third Man. It also shows, mainly through the character of Sonja Jones played by Clair Danes, just how far people will debase themselves to be close to what they consider genius. Zac Efron tries to hold his own against a magnificent Christian McKay as Welles, but really comes across as an idealistic adolescent. He chooses love (lust) over career just as any inexperienced 17 year old would do, but perhaps it would have been a wiser move to cast an unknown as Richard instead of a well known teen idol. This is a very convincing film about the hardships of theatre life and the overwhelming Orson Welles, but everything else, including Zac Efron, falls a little flat.… Expand
prev next
Page:
  • 1

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    70
    Christian McKay's impersonation of young Orson Welles is sensational in this enjoyable, though slight, historical fiction about a teen who spends a memorable week with the legendary wonder.
    Read full review
  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    70
    There are moments, especially when Welles is alternating between acting as Brutus and directing everyone else, that it's possible to forget you're watching an actor and really believe you're beholding Orson Welles at work.
    Read full review
  3. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: David Denby
    80
    This is a movie of great spirit and considerable charm. It's about the giddiness of promise--the awakening of young talent, after years of the Depression, to a moment when anything seems possible.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »