Ranking Every Richard Linklater Film Worst To Best

Me and Orson Welles is a very strong period drama about (you guessed it) Orson Welles, played here by Christian McKay. The plot follows a young theatre actor, Richard (Zac Efron), as he is offered the lead role in Welles' latest play, and how as the show gets going, Richard and Welles find their personal lives collide and the whole production tainted by their fractured relationships.

Christian McKay's performance is the film's clear standout, a career-making turn that was rightfully recognised for numerous high-profile awards. But under the character study, Me and Orson Welles is also a clever little film about the theatre, its pitfalls and Welles' relationship to it.

The weakness of the film, unfortunately, is Richard, played well by Efron but lacking the charm, charisma and complexity of the film's other leading man. His is a story which is continuously overshadowed by Welles' side of things, and it leaves the film with an uneven and inconsistent tone despite the great set design and powerful soundtrack.