Call it a bio pic, a love letter to cinema, or a tribute to a dreamer, The Disaster Artist is a lot of things by pulling the curtain back on how the best worst movie was made. For fans of The Room, the movie in which this movie is about, James Franco has given them a gift that shall keep on giving for years to come. Personally, I know about The Room and have seen clips of it, but have never attended one of its legendary midnight shows. Shame on me. Still, there’s no denying that the heart and spirit behind The Room remains incredibly intact with The Disaster Artist.
Based on the book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made, co-writer Greg Sestero was right in the thick of things. Dave Franco plays Greg in the film, and his life changes forever once he meets Tommy Wiseau (played by Dave’s older brother James) in an acting class. Jet black hair with a vampire vibe, Tommy is an enigma to everyone. No one knows his age, where he’s from or how in the hell he got all of his money. It has to be quite a lot since the reported budget of The Room went over $6 million, all of which came straight out of Wiseau’s own pocket. Anyways, I’m jumping ahead.
Tommy and Greg hit it off fast and are soon roommates in L.A. The acting gigs aren’t flooding the two guys, so they decide Hollywood can go to hell and they’ll do their own movie instead! And just like everything Wiseau does—it’s going to be great.
He just do it.
As the writer, director, producer, and star, Wiseau composes his masterpiece. And once the cameras start rolling, that’s when the laughs kick up a notch as does Wiseau’s jealousy of Mark and his new girlfriend (Alison Brie), his insecurity as an artist, and his baffling vision for his film. From the outbursts on set to the complete lack of confidence from the crew, The Disaster Artist gives you drama that only the movie biz can deliver.
The creation of this accidental cult phenomenon isn’t just about movie-making. There’s a love being forged when two people share the same dream, and this brings Tommy and Greg together, solidifying a brotherhood that can’t truly be defined. Likewise, the stars practically align with The Disaster Artist being placed in the hands of the Franco brothers and them having the balls to bring this stellar stream of strangeness to an audience. Through a sense of thoughtfulness that can only come from brotherly love, the family duo will not allow this movie to become the joke some may have thought it to be.
James Franco extraordinarily embodies Wiseau and it’s nothing short of astonishing. Being the director and star of The Disaster Artist, he could have easily done a mean-spirited, mockery of a movie where everyone is laughing at Wiseau. Franco isn’t looking for the cheap way out. He handles this true story with such brilliance and care, beautifully gliding between hilarious and heartfelt.
Obviously, The Room holds a special place in Wiseau’s heart, and the same can be said for Franco, too. The Disaster Artist is primo proof of that. He takes a man’s perseverance and desire to be a filmmaker and makes a crazy, cautionary tale of trying to live out your dream. And while there may be more pain than pleasure that comes with doing so, the unshakable willingness to put yourself out there for the world to see and scrutinize is what Franco and Wiseau fucking do. No one can ever take that away from them.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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