With a reputation for documenting (and sometimes defining) youth movements throughout the 20th Century, Richard Linklater hops into his cinematic time machine once again for "Me and Orson Welles". Set in 1937, the film follows a life altering week in the theretofore unremarkable existence of Richard Samuels, a fictional New York City high school student who is plucked from the street to act opposite Orson Welles in the inaugural production of his famed Mercury Theatre.

While Zac Efron capably plays the role of "Me", make no mistake about it, the real focus of the movie lies in the second half of the title. This is Orson Welles' show, and relative newcomer Christian McKay plays it with astonishing aplomb. He is charming and maddening. Brilliant and cruel. The artistic temperament that alienated so many investors (and ultimately rendered one of the 20th Century's greatest directors so thoroughly unemployable that he was relegated to champagne commercials and Magnum PI voice-overs) is on full display. Sure, McKay has the winks and nods down pat--the wide grin and the twinkling eye. But he so fully inhabits the role that you almost imagine Welles has been reincarnated for the part.

Bookending a Welles biopic with a warmhearted coming of age tale is a brilliant maneuver. Richard is the spoonful of sugar that allows the film to stay light and watchable, even when it's probing the dark terrain of the tortured artistic soul. The result is a highly entertaining nod to a bygone era which, happily, has something interesting to say along the way.

 -Lucy Jones