Director: Richard Linklater

Screenwriters: Holly Gent Palmo, Vincent Palmo Jr.

Cast: Zac Efron. Christian McKay, Claire Danes, Ben Chaplin

Zac Efron slips comfortably from tween to teen as the ‘Me’ of the title, but it’s debutant Christian McKay who steals the show as a younger Welles attempting to put on his bold 1937 Mercury Theatre production of Julius Caesar.

McKay captures Welles’ bombast, charm, womanising and tantrums, plus a hint of fragility, with such natural ease it’s difficult to believe this is his first film. If there’s any justice he’ll be the dark horse come awards season. Efron is fine as a chirpy, earnest actor who lucks a small role in the production and ends up learning plenty about life, love and performing.

Whenever the film threatens to lapse into cliché, or become just another story about bickering actors rehearsing a play, Welles’ presence provides the momentum and keeps things afloat. Whether it’s a fearsome tirade or a whispered “thank you� to the theatre’s put-upon co-founder, McKay breathes life into the film whenever he’s on screen.

He’s backed by a fine ensemble cast, including Claire Danes as an ambitious production assistant and the object of Efron’s affections, Ben Chaplin as precocious yet vulnerable actor George Coulouris, and James Tupper as smooth-talking eventual movie star Joseph Cotton.

As he proved with School of Rock, director Linklater knows how to make a family-friendly film with enough of an edge so adults aren’t alienated. It’s a fine addition to his increasingly eclectic canon, and one that even Efron-haters will end up begrudgingly admit to liking.

Me & Orson Welles is in cinemas now via Warner Bros.

By Jonathan Todd