Richard (Efron) an aspiring actor who is still in high school gets a job in an Orson Wells (McKay) play.
We know about War of the Worlds, Citizen Kane, "Rosebud" and of course, "we will sell no wine before it's time" etc, but I don't think most know how talented Orson Wells was and how well he could multi-task. Here we get a glimpse of his greatness. And, we enjoy the ride. We like big, powerful, flamboyant characters and this movie shows him as all of that.
What makes this ride more than enjoyable are many things. The dialogues by Wells are most striking. The cinematography makes everything seamless as the sets are amazing and the cast blends in like they lived there all their lives. The pace is right on. We see how a radio show, cigar smoke and all is handled. We see some backstage goings-on, with sudden changes in script and props, and, of course, a few temperaments by some of the stars in the play. The play Wells is doing is Caesar, a modern version (no togas).
But, it is Christian McKay who steals the show as well he should bearing the Orson Wells name. At times, he has a cadence like John Larroquette and I enjoyed that very much. I had to keep looking at him to make sure he wasn't Larroquette in some make-up made to look like Wells. It wasn't. It was McKay.
Zac Efron can act and he did very good. The rest of the cast were good, but Ben Chaplin (as George Coulouris) stands out.
All in all a very enjoyable movie.
Violence: No. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No F-bombs. Many JCs, SOBs mostly by McKay as Wells.
We know about War of the Worlds, Citizen Kane, "Rosebud" and of course, "we will sell no wine before it's time" etc, but I don't think most know how talented Orson Wells was and how well he could multi-task. Here we get a glimpse of his greatness. And, we enjoy the ride. We like big, powerful, flamboyant characters and this movie shows him as all of that.
What makes this ride more than enjoyable are many things. The dialogues by Wells are most striking. The cinematography makes everything seamless as the sets are amazing and the cast blends in like they lived there all their lives. The pace is right on. We see how a radio show, cigar smoke and all is handled. We see some backstage goings-on, with sudden changes in script and props, and, of course, a few temperaments by some of the stars in the play. The play Wells is doing is Caesar, a modern version (no togas).
But, it is Christian McKay who steals the show as well he should bearing the Orson Wells name. At times, he has a cadence like John Larroquette and I enjoyed that very much. I had to keep looking at him to make sure he wasn't Larroquette in some make-up made to look like Wells. It wasn't. It was McKay.
Zac Efron can act and he did very good. The rest of the cast were good, but Ben Chaplin (as George Coulouris) stands out.
All in all a very enjoyable movie.
Violence: No. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No F-bombs. Many JCs, SOBs mostly by McKay as Wells.