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Ishtar
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The Devils
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The Fortune
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Betrayal
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Play It As It Lays
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The Outfit
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Alex in Wonderland
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The Legend of Lylah Clare
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In The Cool of the Day
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That Cold Day in the Park
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Thumb Trippin'
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Midas Run
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At Long Last Love
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Outcast of the Islands
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Run of the Arrow
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House of Secrets
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Saint Joan
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God's Angry Man
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When the Wind Blows
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Housekeeping
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Patty Hearst
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Drowning by Numbers
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Haunted Summer
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The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
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McKay's Welles

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Zac Efron is astute, capable and alert as the young-lad protagonist in Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles, a light-hearted period drama set against the creation of Welles' Ceasar, a modern-dress adaptation of Shakespeare's classic, at Manhattan's Mercury Theatre in 1937.

But Christian McKay's performance as Welles is the thing to see and hear. He's got the deep timbre, the stentorian voice, the attitude, the swagger, the size -- much better than Vincent D'onofrio's Welles in Ed Wood (which someone voiced for him anyway...right?), and a truly thrilling act of bringing a legend back to life. And it's not the first time he's played Welles, either.

Lust in Alaska<< previous | next >>"But...But...Energy Independence!"

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on September 11, 2008 at 6:43 PM

comment #1

BurmaShave says ...

He's got it cold. D'Onofrio and Schreiber both had more resemblance, but he really does capture it. Let us not speak of Angus McFadyen in CRADLE WILL ROCK.

Posted by BurmaShave at September 11, 2008 7:06 PM

comment #2

Arran says ...

Yep, voice actor Maurice LaMarche did the voice in Ed Wood. Not the first or last time he's done Welles.

He also did The Brain from Pinky and the Brain.

Posted by Arran at September 11, 2008 7:50 PM

comment #3

MilkMan says ...

Zac Efron would make the perfect Robert Chambers if they ever decided to do It Was Just A Game: The Preppy Killer.

Posted by MilkMan at September 11, 2008 8:02 PM

comment #4

soap-and-water says ...

that the best welles impersonation i've ever seen, hands down.

now is anyone up for talking about confidential report / mr arkadin?

that's a hell of a fucking movie with a hell of fucking premise, where's the remake?!

Posted by soap-and-water at September 11, 2008 8:04 PM

comment #5

Rod32303 says ...

NOW I must see this. Jeff, how is Danes? I have a soft spot for in almost anything she does.

Posted by Rod32303 at September 11, 2008 8:06 PM

comment #6

scooterzz says ...

as i posted before you left town, you might want to give kaplows novel a go....it's a pretty charming read....

Posted by scooterzz at September 11, 2008 8:17 PM

comment #7

MilkMan says ...

F for Fake is my favorite Welles. That and his narration for that Nostradamus flick back in the early 80s the scared the holy bejeezus out of me.

"And the, in the year 2937, the world will end."

Posted by MilkMan at September 11, 2008 8:31 PM

comment #8

astrophore says ...

f for fake is fan-fucking-tastic. oja kodar is superhot there, which has nothing to do with its artistic integrity, but i need to mention it. welles regained the playfulness that he had as a younger artist.

one of these days we'll get to see the other side of the wind, and i hope the ascot fetishist bogdanovich doesn't do too much damage.

my sentimental welles favorite is still chimes at midnight -- i know thee not, old man. devastating.

Posted by astrophore at September 11, 2008 8:40 PM

comment #9

joncro says ...

RKO 281?
Schrieber?

anyone?

Posted by joncro at September 11, 2008 11:48 PM

comment #10

Craptastic says ...

Before Sunsrise/Sunset, Dazed & Confused... all classics in my mind.... But watching that clip made me think a little too much of The Newton Boys.

Posted by Craptastic at September 11, 2008 11:53 PM

comment #11

The InSneider says ...

Thank God Efron is "Alert." I hate performances when they aren't.... Seriously, what the hell does that even mean?

Posted by The InSneider at September 12, 2008 2:35 AM

comment #12

LDKA0186 says ...

Leave it to Wells to praise the one element no other critic likes about this flick. Not that I should be surprised; Efron's got perfect cheekbones and zero body fat. Maybe that's what "capable" is describing.

Posted by LDKA0186 at September 12, 2008 4:58 AM

comment #13

bluefugue says ...

What a strange effect. Facially there's not much resemblance, but the mannerisms and voice are on the money. It's like Orson Welles possessed someone who doesn't look like him.

Posted by bluefugue at September 12, 2008 7:40 AM

comment #14

Joshua Mooney says ...

Few things entertain me more than a good Orson impersonation. McKay's pretty good in this clip. D'Onofrio, physically, is Welles to a T in "Ed Wood," though he's rather blatantly dubbed, by LaMarche, who is by far the best Welles vocally. D'Onofrio went on to improve his Welles voice (purportedly)in the short "Five Minutes, Mr. Welles," well worth watching just for his Orson-eyebrows and physical gestures. I saw Jeff Still do a very fine Welles on stage in Austin Pendleton's "Orson's Shadow." I need to see "RKO 281" again. And... Zac Efron creeps me out.

Posted by Joshua Mooney at September 12, 2008 8:28 AM