The Disaster Artist

Among the critically bashed cult classics, one of the most celebrated is The Room, which is often referred to as "the Citizen Kane of bad movies". What made it unique was the direction, writing, producing, and acting by the mysterious Tommy Wiseau. It was intended as a drama, but ended up unintentionally becoming a comedy by many bizarre moments that I would easily recommend seeing to believe, having watched The Room once this past year and liking it though not in love with it. Upon its release in 2003, it was demolished by critics but the positive audience feedback resulted in monthly midnight screenings where everyone learns new quotable lines and brings spoons to throw at the screen. This was made even more intriguing when Greg Sestero, one of the lead actors in the cult hit, wrote a book describing not only his relationship with Tommy but also the insane production history behind the bizarre choices, which was called The Disaster Artist. This brings us to James Franco, one of the celebrity fans of The Room, who decided to honor Tommy and this work by creating a movie adaptation of the aforementioned book. The marketing campaign seemed fascinating as it hinted towards the humanity behind this odd icon as well as showing some of the behind the scenes madness (in addition to that, it also gained positive critical reception, notably towards James performance). I entered the theater ready to see what the Franco brothers and their Point Grey studio crew could bring to this adaptation of the book and left it having had a good time with a fun but flawed experience.

Note: It's actually pretty easy to find The Room on Youtube in its entirety. For instance, if you look it up and find a video marked "Lifetime Scary Movies 2017 ❥ The Room", then that one should be able to work.

Plot: The story covers the true events where Greg and Tommy first meet each other in an acting class in 1998, their moving to Los Angeles striving to make it big in Hollywood, and the production effort they put into crafting The Room in order to gain celebrity status fame. One of the best aspects displayed here how competitive job market is for aspiring actors and the impact of rejection on self-confidence as a result. This is reflected in how the complex relationship between them is explored with Greg being realistic, nervous and lacking confidence while Tommy is being fearless, courageous, and optimistic in the face of hardships. The nature of the production is portrayed as very peculiar with weird choices in equipment, stages, casting calls, number of takes needed to get some lines correct, and anything odd in the script that's pretty obvious to the point of being referenced by the cast and crew. There are some exaggerated details with some of the events and a weird placement of scenes that should have better placed elsewhere in order to improve the story's flow (which will be mentioned in the spoiler section of the 2017 retrospective). Another thing to note is that a few of the infamous scenes are shown in terms of the behind the scenes treatment and would have been nice to have seen, but it would have probably been difficult to do for the filmmakers with the cost of location and such (or maybe there's a deleted scene or two of it somewhere). Keep an eye out for the end credits comparison montage and a humorous post credits scene for some extra enjoyment. Overall the story of The Disaster Artist moves at a fast pace with time spent on humanizing the lead characters and making of The Room, even though the flow of the plot would have been improved if certain scenes were placed in different spots.

Characters: The people to focus on are Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) and Greg Sestero (Dave Franco). Tommy is a strange, mysterious, and wealthy aspiring actor who endeavors to find fame by making a film after failing to attain work with Hollywood projects. James gives one of his best performances as he not only manages to honor this real life counterpart in his mannerisms, but also ends up both humanizing the man and perfectly transforming into him rather than being typical James Franco. Greg is a realistic aspiring actor lacking courage in risk taking who meets Tommy and works with him on their film in order to make a name for themselves. Dave, unfortunately, is a mixed bag here because on one hand, he's somewhat stepping outside of roles he's normally associated with in this archetype, but on the other hand, it feels more like he's portraying an above average Dave Franco performance rather than becoming who Greg Sestero really is instead of a pale imitation (which is rather noticeable, especially in the end credits comparison montage). Honorable mentions go to Sandy Schklair (Seth Rogen), Carolyn Minnot (Jacki Weaver), and Juliette Danielle (Ari Graynor) for the formers showcasing solid acting chops as he takes on a leadership position during the filming while the latter two managing great exaggerations and imitations of the actors they portray (with a few solid lines you would be surprised from people working in the industry in regards to hard days with filming). Overall while James acting chops soars to great heights and Dave's doesn't, the effort by the supporting cast helps capture the realism surrounding the actors and crew members involved in the filming.

Overall Consensus: The Disaster Artist impresses with an inspiring yet bizarre true story that's strengthened by James Franco's strong portrayal, realistic showcase of Hollywood hardships, and complex bond between the two leads. ⭑⭑⭑1/2🍿🎟

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You have or haven't seen The Room and are interested in the backstory behind it. You want to see how tough it can be in the real Hollywood. You have read The Disaster Artist. You don't mind comedic biographical movies with a number of celebrity actors involved. You are interested in how James Franco handles being Tommy Wiseau and don't mind seeing him naked in one scene.

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You dislike The Room. You dislike comedic biographical films. You are annoyed with James Franco. You are annoyed with movies that are about the making of other films.