The Disaster Artist (2017) Review

The Disaster Artist is the unbelievable account of how The Room, one of the most beloved bad movies ever, got made. Much like Tommy Wiseau, James Franco not only portrayed The Room’s bizarre auteur but he also directed it. I became aware of The Room when it was reviewed by my favorite Internet reviewer, Doug Walker, the Nostalgia Critic. I was in awe of the bad acting, dropped subplots, and just about everything else. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to watch the entire movie and many would agree with me that it is one of the most unusual and memorable experiences you can have with a movie. I was snickering consistently and giddily anticipating the best moments like “YOU’RE TEARING ME APART, LISA!” Man, that is gold! Not only that, when the first trailer dropped, I was completely dumbfounded. It showed the making of the infamous scene when Tommy’s character Johnny says “I did not hit her. It’s not true! It’s Bullshit. I did not hit her. I did NAHHT! Oh hi, Mark.” But Tommy keeps forgetting his line! I just had to buy the book the movie was based on written by Mark himself, Greg Sestero, just to see what ludicrous things went on during this film’s production. I haven’t finished reading it yet at the moment, but it’s a very good read that is totally recommended.

First off, James Franco knocks it out of the park as Tommy Wiseau in one of the best performances of the year. He certainly got the bizarre and mysterious aspect of Tommy across very well but also shows some semblance of humanity, oddly enough. I also like the touches of makeup to make Franco resemble Tommy. It reminded me of Martin Landau's Oscar-winning performance as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood where he was given makeup by the great Rick Baker. There were a couple of instances where I could not see James Franco, but the actual Tommy Wiseau especially with shades on. Dave Franco may not resemble Greg Sestero to a T but I thought he did really well. What’s ironic is Tommy frequently calls Greg Baby Face but Dave is more of a baby face than the actual Greg. Another standout was Seth Rogen as the film’s script supervisor Sandy who did the majority of the directing. He delivered some pretty funny commentary on the production and the out of this world choices made by Tommy. The other cast members to their jobs fine but they get sidelined by James and Dave Franco, though to be fair they’re the main focus of the film.

My issues are mainly nitpicking in that the film starts with Tommy and Greg forming their friendship and making a vow to conquer LA. I wasn’t even a big fan of those parts in the book. I wanted to get to the parts of the making of the Room and all the crazy stuff that happened. It’s kind of like the documentary mini-series Monty Python Almost the Truth where the first episode aptly titled “The Not So Interesting Beginnings” centers around the Pythons' early lives whereas the next part delves into the creation of Flying Circus. But all in all, it is absolutely necessary to establish things and the first act isn’t all bad.

The Disaster Artist delivers a very funny and unexpectedly inspiring story about achieving your dreams in the art of cinema. I saw it as the Alamo Drafthouse with a very enthusiastic crowd. They could have been diehard fans of The Room undoubtedly. They even applauded at the title card and at the end. So if you love The Room with all your heart, then you’ll enjoy this movie a lot. For me, I enjoyed its bizarre story and inspiring message. I totally felt for Tommy at the part where people reacted to his finished product, even though I was reacting the same way in between. But in all seriousness, Tommy should be proud of what he achieved. If he thinks his film is on par with Citizen Kane and Casablanca, then who am I to judge? And to be honest, I kind of have the same shortcomings Tommy has when it comes to making my video reviews. But if he can overcome them, then I could too. Now onto more reading about this experience.

RATING: STRONG APPROVAL (A-)

Also stay during the credits, there’s an after credit scene that you’ll get a kick out of. I’m glad I caught it when some ladies and I were trying to sort out a billing error in both of our checks.