Me and Orson Welles (PG-13, 2009)

It’s 1937, and wunderkind thespian Orson Welles (Christian McKay) is at a make-or-break moment, about to open a modernized version of Julius Caesar at the Mercury Theater. His world collides with that of Richard (Zac Efron), a teenager who yearns to move beyond the confines of his high school. He gets what he wishes when he encounters Welles and his troupe on a busy New York street and is offered a small-yet-crucial part in the play. But is he up to the task -- both as an actor and as a man discovering the allure of women?

Despite its jaunty pace and rat-a-tat banter, it takes a while for ME AND ORSON WELLES to find its groove. Based on a historical novel by Richard Kaplow, it has the period details down pat, but it feels self-consciously meticulous, unable to really enjoy its script about the backstage foibles of a theater production. Perhaps it’s because, able as he is, Efron feels thoroughly too modern to believe, and the stage actors seem too, well, actor-ly. (McKay, as Welles, is compelling, but you never completely forget that he’s playing make-believe.) Claire Danes, as an ambitious secretary, emotes with authenticity, but even she feels overdone.

Then a funny thing happens on the way to (Caesar’s) forum: Halfway through the movie, we begin to care, largely because a love triangle of sorts develops. And by the time the curtains fall, we care very much indeed and are actually transfixed by the show we glimpse onscreen. (Linklater tried to recreate as much as he could of Welles’ Shakespearean oeuvre, and the icon fascinates.) The soundtrack carries viewers through beautifully, too. Bottom line? The movie’s imperfect, but it sure is a swell diversion.