High school student Richard Samuels dreams of being an actor on the stage. He idolizes Orson Welles and shows up at the Mercury Theatre with the slimmest of hopes to be part of their first production, JULIUS CAESAR set in Mussolini 's Italy. By chance he amuses the players and lands a small part. He's actually going to act with Orson Welles. But the legend is different from the reality.
Richard Linklater's film cuts to the core of the ruthless politics, often fueled by enormous egos, that rule the theater world. At the Mercury Theatre, Welles is the sun and the rest of the company is the planets circling him. A great deal of time they are simply waiting for the man to arrive. When he arrives he is often short with those that his vision does not come so easily to. But when he needs or wants something from you (or is just showing off) he can make you feel like you are a superstar.
Zac Efron (HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL) plays Richard, who serves as our naive window into this world. Christian McKay (TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY) is Welles. Is is the key word in that sentence. His performance channels the larger than life personality with charm, passion and ego — great ego. In one scene, Welles whisks off Richard in his ambulance that he rents to get around town faster to a radio recording. Welles shows up right as the program is about to go live and goes off script with a brilliant ad lib that transforms the written dribble into something special. You know from this moment why everyone that puts up with Welles does so.
Production manager Sonja Jones (Claire Daines, ROMEO & JULIET) puts up with it because she wants to be in the movies and Welles knows everyone. She knows the game and plays it well, but she has a soft spot for the untainted innocence of Richard. Producer John Houseman (Eddie Marsan, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY) puts up with it because he is a masochist — it's the only explanation. They don't know it now, but actors like Joseph Cotten (James Tupper, MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS) and George Coulouris (Ben Chaplin, THE THIN RED LINE) will go far thanks to playing Welles' games. He promised big things to his collaborators. Some of those promises he fulfilled and others he didn't.
Efron and Daines make for a sweet couple. Efron can act. He brings the right wide-eyed innocence the role needs, but he also gives Richard the right dose of naïve confidence. You have to have some self-assurance to last with Welles or you'll get eaten alive. Daines gives a layered performance as a slightly older woman than Efron. She's already gone through what Richard is going through and has made her bed. She sees something special in the new kid. A bit of herself, a bit of talent and not a bit of the cynicism that everyone else in the troupe has.
Linklater has created a film that works both as an intriguing behind-the-scene of a stage production film, as well as a portrait of the legend Welles. McKay's transformative performance is the center of it all. We see him as a truly talented artist. We see him as a cruel egomaniac. Richard sees it all and it's an eye opening experience for him and us.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
