One Arrogant man

Tonight I am reviewing a film called, Me and Orson Wells, I do hope you enjoy and do feel free to comment on it.

Richard Samuel is a normal High school boy, he lives in New York and decides he will take a day off school to go into the city. Whilst there he meets Greet who shares his love of creative arts. They strike up a friendship but do not expect to see each other again. When Richard makes his way through New York he comes across the Mercury theatre and the actors are standing outside waiting for Orson Wells to arrive, as a result of Richard being there he receives an impromptu audition which sees him getting the role of Lucius in the latest production of Caesar.
Richard is thrilled to have been given an acting job and soon makes is presence in t he theatre known. He makes friends with Sonja who shows him the ropes. Richard is liking his role but it is affecting his school work so his Mother is not happy.

Can Richard persuade his Mother to continue with the play and just how far will his relationship with Sonja and Orson go and what affect will it have on his future?
I have picked the DVD for this film up so many times in Tesco but have always pt it back down again and I have never known the reason why, the two lead role are taken by actors who I like but there was something about the story which made me not really want to pay to watch it. I was pleased when this came on Sky movies as it meant I got to watch for free but I have to say both me and hubby were left slightly disappointed by the film. The story was good but very slow at the start and only slightly picked up the pace as the film went on. There was no excitement to the story or the characters and it was actually quite boring to watch at times.

The lead role of Richard was played by Zac Efron and he did a good job with what he was given. He looked good in the 1930’s clothes and played the role of a school boy trying to compete with the elder actors very well. Thee was a good liability factor about his character and I found he was easy to watch and seemed genuine in all that he did. He showed a rather naive side to his character when on screen with the role of Sonja and I enjoyed seeing how young he came across when dealing with his feelings for her. Sonja was played by Claire Danes and she was a complex characters. At the start of the film she seemed very sweet and innocent but as the film moved on we got to see another side of her and I did not like what she did and how she got on in life, this was an unexpected twist in the story but one which I did not like. The role of Orson Wells was not at all what I was expecting. He was pompous, in love with himself, big headed and nasty to all around him. The actors, Christian McKay was good in his portrayal of the character but I hated him from start to finish. He constantly spoke down to people and thought he was the centre of he universe, there were a lot of times throughout the film when I just wish someone would have punched him.
We had some very good support actors, including, Ben Chaplin, Zoë Kazon, Eddie Marsan and Leo Bill, they were all quite different character and played their roles well and were all united by their love of the theatre and creative arts.

The film was set in the 1930’s in New York and I found the props and sets to be great and authentic for this decade. It was nice to see the men dressed in sites and looking smart throughout the film and I loved how correctly they all spoke to each other, the lack of slang was very apparent in the film. The old fashioned feel made the story seem more real and authentic and I am glad it had this time setting as I don’t think it would have worked as well if set in the present. The costumes also added to the feel and setting of the story and I did at times have to giggle at some of the clothes Zac wore. The music was good and fitting for the film and the age of the film. It was not at all memorable apart from one track., The track which I remember is the one which Zac had to sing on stage. His vocals were good if not a little weak but it was enjoyable to listen to.
This is a film only review so there are no bonus features to speak about. The running time of the film is 114 minutes which I felt to be too long and the rate is a 12 as there are some swear words in the film. The DVD can be bought for around £4 in Tesco but personally I would not pay to watch this. It is currently being shown on Sky Movies so try to catch it there for free.

I would love to be able to give this film more than 3 stars but I just cant. The acting from some was excellent and enjoyable to watch but there was a distinct lack of pace to the story and it was boring and slow for the majority. It is worth a watch if you like Zac Efron but I would certainly not pay to watch it.