The Disaster Artist Review *****
- Chris Miles
- Dec 6, 2017
- 3 min read
Tommy Wiseau and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Movie!
Directed, produced by and starring James Franco, The Disaster Artist is a biographical-comedy film that highlights the working relationship between aspiring actor Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) and mysterious actor Tommy Wiseau (James Franco). Based on Greg Sestero's non-fictional book of the same name, the film chronicles the making of Tommy Wiseau's The Room; a 2003 film which is considered widely as one of the worst films ever made. Made on a production budget of $6,000,000 and only earning $1800 on the opening weekend, the film has since gained a cult following, where fans attend sold-out midnight screenings of the film, where they mock the film's unconventional storytelling and various technical and narrative flaws. After over a decade of the film's release, Tommy finally made his budget money back from all the midnight screenings.
I first heard of The Room earlier this year after YouTube sensation 'PewDiePie' released a video where he recorded his reaction towards the film. After watching snippets of the film, I initially thought that the film was a terribly-made drama piece, but after learning about the film's large cult following and having a keen interest towards the mysterious Tommy Wiseau, I decided to give the film a watch. It's one of those films that are just so bad that they're so good! Everything from the actor's performances to the under-developed screenplay, the film is just...bizarre but in an brilliant way! I still watch the film to this day and try to persuade others to witness this accidental masterpiece. And trust me, you'll have a much better time watching the film with friends and a lot of alcohol.
After reading The Disaster Artist and watching the film adaptation, I felt surprisingly moved by the great performances of both Dave and James Franco, so for me, it wouldn't come as a surprise if one of these two would get nominated for a Best Actor award at the next Academy Awards. Plus it felt great to see other great actors who have previously worked with James Franco before. Actors such as Seth Rogen, who played the script supervisor for The Room, Josh Hutcherson, who played creepy Denny, and Bryan Cranston who played himself during his time filming popular American TV sitcom Malcolm in the Middle.
One of the greatest highlights of The Disaster Artist has to be the ending scene where we get to see the audience's initial reaction of The Room at the film's premiere back in 2003. Everyone was just shocked by the actor's performances and laughed at moments from the film where Tommy intended for it to be serious. Baffled by the reaction, Tommy becomes upset and storms out of the theater, but gets stopped by Greg and tells him that despite the fact the film didn't turn out the way he wanted it to be, the audience still had a really great time watching the film fall apart! Tommy eventually accepts the reaction and gets a standing ovation from the audience.
Overall, The Disaster Artist is a surprisingly poignant and charming movie that explores the creative process of how to make a movie that can fail so spectacularly, that it actually triumphs! Even if you've never heard of The Room, what James Franco has to offer here is a fantastic, hilarious true Hollywood story that is as phenomenal as its subject matter is awful.
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