Very good movie...

msgreen-1

Liev Schreiber gives a great performance as Orson Welles but I am always a fan of Liev Schreiber.

The story is great and based on the real story of Orson Welles directing/producing his masterpiece "Citizen Kane", innovating new ways to make the film to give it exactly the look and feel he wants. For example in one scene he keeps insisting on getting a lower angle for a camera shot until he eventually grabs an axe and chops through the floor to get the camera even lower - apparently that is a true story.

The film deals with his relationships at the time, etc, and all of the actors give very good performances, but again Liev Schreiber stands out with a great turn as Orson Welles.

POSSIBLE SPOILER: The film is not-so-subtly based on William Randolph Hearst, an eccentric and too-powerful newspaper magnate at the time, and Welles has to convince the board not to sell him the film (Hearst wants to buy it so he can destroy all the copies), which they agree to, apparently because they don't like Hearst and his power is starting to decline. Welles even meets Hearst and the two obviously dislike each other.

In the end the film is released despite Hearst's attempts to keep it out of theatres.

It's just a good film. I give it 8/10.

score /10

msgreen-1 6 December 2006

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1538322/