2017 Film Review: The Disaster Artist (2017)

Directed by: James Franco
Written by: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Starring: James Franco, Dave Franco
IMDb Link

The Room (2003) is one of the greatest terrible films, a textbook example of how not to make a film, and the maker's of The Disaster Artist love it.

*

The Disaster Artist follows the story of Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) and the making of The Room, largely from the perspective of Greg Sestero (Dave Franco). It's intriguing, and almost too bizarre to be true. We are introduced to Wiseau's oddities and mysteires one at a time alongside Sestero; the seemingly endless supply of money, the indecipherable accent, the jealous behaviour and seemingly delusional perspective. The film goes a long way to simply express these as factors of who Tommy is, and while there's an exasperated comedic tone to it, it's not an attempt at the expense of Wiseau so much as it is that trying to acknowledge the existence of this seemingly impossible man creates a sense of shocked humour. The film works in the same earnest of expressing Wiseau and Sestero's journey as Wiseau did in making The Room; the difference is that Franco is a talented filmmaker.

That's not just behind the camera either: Franco becomes Wiseau in his performances, mimicking his mannerisms, his speech patterns, his accents, all to near perfection. It's easy to see the slight imperfections in re-enacting scenes from The Room, "I did naaaht" felt notably overdone for example, but otherwise as Wiseau, Franco is Wiseau. Everyone else gives a strong performance too; Dave Franco isn't a perfect copy of Greg Sestero, but as a performance he carries strong emotional growth as he expresses Sestero's own journey as an actor. A personal favourite was Ari Graynor as Juliette, the woman who played Lisa: in the final moments of the movie, the audience is treated to re-creations of scenes from The Room played side by side with the actual scenes from The Room, and in every one them, Graynor's timing, voice, movement, expression, are all mimicked absolutely perfectly, sounding like listening to the movie in stereo.

Beyond being about the making of The Room and the journey Wiseau and Sestero went on, the film importantly gives context to the whole experience, showing us the struggles of Wiseau and Sestero as they try to make it in show business, and the odd fondness Wiseau has for Sestero, what ultimately drives them to make the movie and persevere through rejection. It's a nice touch to the movie that makes the whole thing just a little more approachable, despite Wiseau's seemingly alien experience, and reinforces the events of the movie over an over. It's baffling that The Room was even made, but everything here gives meaningful explanation.

The Short Version: The Disaster Artist is a loving  and well-crafted tribute to the best worst movie ever made and the people who made it, and  James Franco embodies Tommy Wiseau in one of the best performances of the year.. This is best seen with the context of The Room, but even without that it's still a thoughtful discussion on the meaning of success and how it drives us. Highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10

Published December 1st, 2017