Director: James Franco
Cast Headliners: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, many many others
Original Release Date: December 1st, 2017 (limited)
Quotes like “Ahahahahhaha, what a story Mark” , “You’re tearing me apart Lisa!”, and of course” Oh hi Mark” define legendary movies. Or at least to those in the know, they’re from the infamously bad…yet so terrible it’s in a way good film, 2003’s The Room. The Disaster Artist is a film about the making of that film, and the enigmatic hilarious legend of its creator Tommy Wiseau. On the surface it seems like it could be as silly as its source, but within is a hilarious and heartfelt recreation and tribute to the situation that led to that…disasterpiece.
The story, mostly adapted from the biographical novel of the same name, details the meeting of the two friends, collaborators, and stars of The Room in Tommy Wiseau(James Franco) and Greg Sestero (Dave Franco). This is after (the first sign of this) a funny montage, likely true, of celebrity cameos commenting on the films importance from JJ Abrams to Danny McBride more. The focus goes from acting school to the duo’s bonding over old films to the insane idea of making a film together.. luckily that they did.
What a story Franco rather, who (in addition to directing / producing it) embodies Wiseau so incredibly well in his performance. His look, his method of speech, his movement… he’s almost unrecognizable as his usual self and is nearly 100 spot on as Tommy. It’s a hard task as Wiseau is a one of a kind person, having a distinct accent that’s “New Orleans” and Franco lives it up wonderfully. The laughs come both from the famous circumstances in addition to original pieces to add to the Wiseau canon. Even when not causing humor, he’s sincere and endearing, angry and hateworthy… each moment doing what it needs to. The only time this falters is into some slight over-exaggeration of things, and when a scene calls for Franco to not have the trademark hair look on fully display. Otherwise he’s the perfect take a fan would want or would cause mirth to anyone.
The other Franco as Greg is a bit less spot on , with some cheesy makeup but he is alright in his dumb innocentness. What is believable, and funny, is how Greg is amazed and intrigued by Wiseau. Their friendship leads to some of the best jokes and drama of the film. Great care was placed into giving the rest of the cast to the usual comedy crew. Particularly the likes of The Room’s Peter / Kyle (Nathan Fielder), Claudette / Carolyn (Jacki Weaver), and even Chris R (Zac Efron) and Denny / Phillip (Josh Hutcherson) are spot and slapstick. Lisa / Juliette (Ari Graynor) is of course a part although she is reserved mainly for jokes.
Characters that viewers of the Room have no prior basis on are good as well. Of course Seth Rogen makes his way to a James Franco / Evan Goldberg made flick, here as surprisingly more subdued than usual (for his roles) sarcastic script supervisor Sandy. There’s so many minor original parts that show up… played by the likes of Sharon Stone, Hannibal Burress, Bryan Cranston, Randall Park, Bob Odenkirk, and more. While purists of The Room may view these as unneeded, they are actually fine and for better worse momentary additions who often have extremely humorous lines to add to the script.
That’s the main thing about The Disaster Artist. Its primary audience to enjoy it the most will be fans of The Room’s cult status. There are plenty of moments that mock, or endear, parts of that film. However, the movie is funny enough to be enjoyable to any due to the inanity of Wiseau and peers around. The drama , sadness, and inspiration make it a (odd) inspiring story amidst some occasional melodrama.
Of unique note is the effort placed into its setting and references. The late 90s / early 00s California are felt strongly from clothing to pop music. One will not hear at “Rhythm Of the Night” without a big smile after viewing. The flow of it all works silly and swell.
Just as its title implies, something wonderful is made out of a bad situation. The Room is known as one of the worst movies ever but at the same time one of the most iconic. This film has taken its behind the scenes into something just as funny and with some deeper stuff as well. This is coming from a fan , but..for hoping what it should be… what a story Franco, 9.52 out of 10
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