Two
famously eccentric American artists who burnt fast and hot get the fictional film
treatment in “The Raven” –- with writer/poet Edgar Allan Poe playing super
sleuth over a series of murders related to his writings –- and “Me and Orson Welles” -– with the actor/director as scoundrel muse to a plucky “High School Musical”
hero.
As Poe, John Cusack does that arched-eyebrow John Cusack thing he always
does, and he’s flat out wrong in the role. The plot is a grisly rehash of
“Se7en” stitched onto a carbon copy of Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes,” with a
villain that’s dull as rag paper. Worse bit: Poe is shown playing with a pet
raccoon. Director James McTeigue thinks he’s still filming “V for Vendetta.”
Fawkes that.
“Me” focuses on a teen drama protégé (Zac Efron) as he cons his
way into a gig at the Mercury Theatre for the renowned staging of “Julius
Caesar.” Christian McKay plays Welles as madman, genius, romantic, cad, screw-up,
and artist, and brilliantly crushes every scene, but with “Tiger Beat” poster
boy Efron in the lead pining for a smirking bored Claire Danes, the film sinks.
Poe and Welles would torch these films. Raven: C- Welles: C+
Lean on Pete
7 years ago
