There are good movies, there are bad movies, there are the
worst movies ever made, and then there’s The
Room. In the culture of bad movies, there are few that have reached the
level of infamy and devotion as the alien brainchild of writer, director, actor,
producer and financier Tommy Wiseau, widely considered to be the worst movie of
all time. It’s one of those productions where every single element from the
writing to the acting to the editing is so utterly wrong in a “Who the hell
thought this was a good idea?” kind of way that the film could be used as a
case study on how not to make a movie.
Regardless, The Room has developed
one of the most devoted fanbases since The
Rocky Horror Picture Show, midnight screenings have become a worldwide hit,
and if you’ve spent a decent amount of time on the Internet or around film geeks, then you’ve probably
heard someone quoting it without even realizing it.
A lot of the public fascination with The Room has to do with the mystery surrounding Tommy Wiseau
himself. Not only is he quite strange (the way he acts in the movie is
basically how he acts in real life), but he’s incredibly secretive about his personal
life, including his age, place of origin, and the seemingly endless supply of
money that he sank into the project, and while it’s hard to tell if he’s in on
the joke or not, he’s managed to turn The
Room into a cottage industry. For a while, very little was known about the
production of this stink bomb, until actor Greg Sestero released his memoir, The Disaster Artist, chronicling the bizarre
circumstances surrounding the production, its evolution as a pop culture
phenomenon, and detailing his love/hate relationship with Wiseau. And with such
a massive following, especially among the Hollywood elite, it was only a matter
of time before someone snagged the film rights. And who did we get to helm this
project? James Franco! ...Yay?
Our story follows Greg Sestero (Dave Franco), a struggling
young actor from San Francisco who meets Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) in an
acting class. Neither of them can act to save their lives, only one of them
knows it. Greg is immediately drawn to Tommy for his fearlessness and eccentricity,
and the two become fast friends, moving to Los Angeles together to pursue their
dreams. After months of rejection, Tommy concludes that if no one will hire them,
then they should make their own movie. Tommy bangs out a script and puts down
an exuberant amount of money into equipment, sets and a crew for what he claims
will be his masterpiece. But the production becomes a nightmare for everyone
involved as the crew are floored by his overwhelming incompetence and
tyrannical directing style.
A lot of hype has been swirling around this movie from the
very beginning, with whispers of it being an early Oscar contender floating in
as early as this summer. Unfortunately, that’s not quite the case. That’s not
to say the movie is bad, not at all, but aside from an uncannily spot-on Tommy
Wiseau impression from James Franco, stylistically there’s nothing much that
makes it stand out. It feels less like a professional film and more like a glorified
fan film, or at the very least like an overlong Funny or Die sketch. Franco pulls
double duty as star and director, and let’s just say there’s a very good reason
he’s known for his acting and not his directing.
The Franco brothers are what sell this movie, though. The
core of the movie is how Tommy and Greg fed off each other. Greg is handsome
and was able to get an agent, but doesn’t have the stage confidence that Tommy
has. Meanwhile, Tommy is jealous of how everyone likes Greg and his ability to
move up in the world, but is so insecure and jealous that he’s willing to hold
him back. The movie attempts to humanize Tommy, but makes no pretenses about how selfish and egomaniacal he can be and what a monster he was on set. There was some early buzz about
James Franco getting an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Wiseau, but he is
hands down the best part of the movie, with his performance shining through the
fact that he’s a handsome guy in a fake wig playing opposite his brother in an
even faker beard. But James and Dave’s chemistry as actors and brothers
translate incredibly well. Special praise also goes to Seth Rogan and Paul Scheer
as the script supervisor and DP, who are two of the only competent people on
set trying to make the best of their horrid working conditions.
The Disaster Artist
is a movie about passion and pursuing that which you love, even when no one
else believes in you or if you’re not even good at it; fitting considering that
the movie it’s based on was built on a culture who adores it for those exact
reasons. The most obvious comparison is Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, but it doesn’t really add anything to the themes of
creativity, the insanity of moviemaking or chasing your dreams despite a lack
of talent that Ed Wood didn’t already
say back in 1994. It also doesn’t say anything new about Tommy Wiseau and his
mind that couldn’t be deduced by anyone who saw The Room even once (his delusions of grandeur, his jealousy, his cynicism, his hang-ups with women). And it’s clear from the writing, directing and performances
that the crew of this movie are just as passionate about The Room, so much so that it feels like they actively want this
movie to be a part of its legacy. The film opens with real-life testimonies from
celebrity fans like Kristen Bell, Adam Scott, Zach Braff, JJ Abrams and Kevin
Smith recalling their first encounters with the film, and ends with side-by-side
comparisons of scenes from the original that they painstakingly recreated. They’re
both fine but come across as a bit self-congratulatory and rings hollow since
they don’t add anything to what they’re supposedly trying to say about it.
Bottom line, The
Disaster Artist is thoroughly enjoyable, and the subject is worthy of a
full movie, but it isn’t as good as I was hoping it would be. For those wanting
to know some juicy details about the making of one of the worst movie ever made,
this isn’t a bad place to start. Being familiar with The Room beforehand isn’t completely necessary to enjoy it, but it
definitely helps. Not great, but good for what it is.
7/10
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