Rated: M
Directed by: James Franco
Screenplay by: Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Based on the book: “The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside the Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made” by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell
Produced by: James Franco, Vince Jolivette, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen, James Weaver
Starring: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Ari Graynor, Jacki Weaver, Josh Hutcherson, Zac Efron, Bryan Cranston, Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith, Jason Mantzoukas, Hannibal Buress, Paul Scheer and Sugar Lyn Beard.
James Franco: “For this movie to play in cities around the world means there is something more going on than just an espically bad movie that’s fun to laugh at with a group of people. ‘The Room’ is unique because of Tommy Wiseau, who put his whole heart into his project. ‘The Room’ has what other bad movies don’t have, which is pure passion.”
Based on the true story and book written by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell, The Disaster Artist is about the making of, The Room, AKA the, Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made.
Director and star, James Franco embraces the role of Tommy Wiseau – a man who embodies the saying, that Truth (or here, a man) really is stranger than fiction.
Beginning in San Francisco, two aspiring actors, Tommy (not Tom) and Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) meet in acting class: Greg, shy and nervous and Tommy, filled with unrelenting self-confidence… And no talent. Together, they make an odd yet perfect team.
Making a pact to become movie stars (just like James Dean), they move to LA to make the big time.
Tommy, has an apartment in LA and a seemingly endless pit of money where to this day, no one knows the source, nor where he really comes from. Tommy claims he’s from New Orleans but sporting a Slavic accent he can’t disguise, it’s hard to believe. He’s a mystery.
What can be believed is his passion.
After being constantly rejected by Hollywood, Tommy decides to create his own film, starring himself as the hero while also writing and directing the disaster that becomes, The Room.
Acting, writing, anything creative, really – it’s just so hard to become successful yet so many people try. As producer J.J. Abrams says to Tommy, Just because you want something doesn’t mean you’re going to get it.
It’s heart breaking because we’ve all been there at some point – seeing the want turn into a caricature of ourselves. Most give up. Not Tommy.
It’s funny. Tommy’s funny because he wants it so bad. And the beauty of the film is the ability to be able to laugh at what the weight of the obsession turns people into: ‘It’s human behaviour’. That’s what Tommy wants to show the world. His own unique view of what it is to be human.
James’ performance as Tommy gives that perfect balance of a unique strangeness with insight into a demanding yet warm heart.
Not that the script writers had to go far for material. It’s all there, even down to the side-by-side shots of the original movie versus the remake of the same scenes just to show how incredibly bad, The Room really is.
I had a great time watching this film – the story hilarious and full of heart and well-cast with James and brother Dave showing the bromance between the two unlikely friends of Tommy and Greg. And the clever way the film was put together, blending the original with the remake, just added to the fun (make sure to stay until after the credits!).
Only in Hollywood could you find a guy like Tommy – although he’s from New Orleans, right?!
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