'The Disaster Artist' Review

[This review was originally written in December 2017 and is now being published that my internship is over. For an explanation of this, visit my Fall 2017 Important Update post.] 

Nominated For: Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Disaster Artist follows aspiring film actor Greg Sestero as he meets the strange and mysterious Tommy Wiseau in an acting class. The two quickly become friends and decide to move to Hollywood in order to pursue their acting ambitions. Once they decide they've faced enough rejection, the two decide to realize their dream by making their own movie. The Disaster Artist then details the conception of one of the worst films ever made, The Room.

The Disaster Artist is a film I've been looking forward to seeing for quite some time. While I hadn't seen The Room till far more recently, I had heard about it amongst conversation with the cult fanbase and was well aware of its existence so the idea of a film about the making of the disasterpiece intrigued me to say the least, and the trailer only increased my anticipation. However, I was slightly concerned that the Franco brothers and Seth Rogan might coast on purely recreating the most memorable moments from The Room. As per usual, my worries were unwarranted though.

One of the more interesting aspects of The Disaster Artist was how James Franco championed Wiseau's strategy of directing, producing, and starring in the movie. While he didn't fully follow in Wiseau's footsteps by writing The Disaster Artist's script, Franco was fortunate enough that Scott Neustadeter and Michael H. Weber adapted Tom Bissell and Greg Sestero's book. In order to make this work, everyone involved would require an insurmountable appreciation of The Room... and thankfully, it seems everyone behind the camera genuinely cared about telling a hilarious and heartfelt story surrounding a passion project that didn't pan out as the artist had hoped.

The Disaster Artist could have easily just mocked Tommy Wiseau and his entirely unique vision that is The Room, but instead Franco and the writers realized there was an emotional core to this story. It'd admittedly be difficult to discover and depict onscreen because that would involve analyzing and understanding one of the most mysterious men in Hollywood, but it was there. Everyone (even exceptionally talented people) can relate to putting their all behind something and being underwhelmed by the results, and that's exactly what Franco keys in on. He excellently explores what it's like to chase your dreams and end up with an undesirable outcome. The Disaster Artist is a film that takes Wiseau's willingness to put himself out there in wacky, weird ways and shows admiration for it. Not many would dare to do that, so I can't help but respect Franco for respecting Tommy Wiseau (which I'll touch more on in a moment).

For fans of The Room hoping to see their favorite moments recreated, there's a lot of fun to be had in that department... Especially with the endless stream of surprise celebrity cameos. Though The Room is certainly not essential viewing in order for you to enjoy yourself. Even if you haven't seen it, you'll likely laugh at the insane shenanigans and perhaps be inspired to go watch that film afterwards. With that being said, I think you'll have a deeper appreciation for everything if you have watched it. Also worth noting is the fact that there is a post credits scene. I had no idea a few weeks ago when I went to see the film, so I left before the credits were finished. I wasn't exactly expecting to Tommy Wiseau to be recruited by Nick Fury or anything so I didn't stay, but I personally like to watch those regardless of what they are, so I'm letting you know because I would have liked to have known when I first saw it.

At the center of The Disaster Artist is a totally transformative performance from James Franco that's managed to already earn a lot of awards acclaim, and quite frankly, it's the one I'm rooting for in the Best Actor race. Franco could have simply done a lazy impersonation of Wiseau, but his performance is surprisingly layered beyond nailing Wiseau's unique accent and quirky mannerisms. Franco seems to have a fundamental understanding of Wiseau's humanity, and the way he communicates it while maintaining the Wiseau's peculiar personality is absolutely incredible.

Dave Franco does a solid job ensuring Greg is a relatable, empathetic audience surrogate in this crazy story, and Seth Rogan is funny as Wiseau's script supervisor Sandy. As I mentioned earlier, there are countless other celebrity cameos, but I won't reveal them here so it remains a surprise if you choose to watch the film.

"It's not true! It's bull-sh*t!" The Disaster Artist is not a disaster as some may gleam from the title. The Disaster Artist is actually a great big Hollywood movie about a really terrible one (that was a line from The Room for those confused). 

Film Assessment: A-

Throwback Thursday Review: 'The Room'

Oh, hai readers! If you've seen The Room or even heard of the film, you should get that reference. Otherwise, that's probably the reason you're here! So for those that don't know, The Room is considered one of the worst movies ever made, but has gathered a cult following over the years in spite of that. The reason I'm reviewing it is because The Disaster Artist is set to expand its release this weekend, and that film essentially is all about the making of The Room. As a part of my internship, I got to help host a screening of The Room and it was absolutely bonkers! There were cue cards that suggested certain actions when a particular event occurred onscreen, but the fervent fans in the auditorium already knew what to say or do, and when to say or do it. It was actually amazing, because I've never seen anything like it (Sentiments that definitely double for the film itself). As for upcoming content, my scheduled Throwback Thursday Reviews for the remainder of the year consist of just Looper and Jumanji (1995) and I'll be done with my internship next Wednesday so I will resume reviewing current releases starting with Star Wars: The Last Jedi! At this point in time, I have 15 reviews in draft ready to be published. I recently shared a post on all my social media pages allowing you, the reader, to select the reviews you're most interested in reading, so please go vote if you haven't already!

'The Room' Review

In The Room, a successful banker named Johnny and his fiancé Lisa live happily in San Fransisco till Lisa decides she's no longer content with their relationship and tries to seduce and manipulate Johnny's best friend, Mark. 

The Room is considered one of the worst films ever made and is totally Tommy Wiseau's movie from start-to-finish as he directed, produced, starred, and even wrote the script for the film. The story behind it all was that the idea originated as a concept for a stage play, but Wiseau had difficulty publishing so he instead decided he would adapt the project to film himself to have complete control over his project. I'll skimp on details behind the historically disastrous production for the sake of permitting The Disaster Artist to be full of surprises for you should you choose to see it.

Once you see the film, it's abundantly clear why Wiseau ran into such difficulty publishing. Things happen that make no sense. There are numerous random scenes and characters that come out of nowhere without factoring into the film at all. None of the dialogue sounds natural whatsoever, and the every actors' line delivery is absolutely atrocious. I never thought I would say this, but the performances are so bad that I genuinely apologize for any disdain I've expressed towards any actor or actress in this blog's lifespan. Yes, that even includes whatever Cara Delevigne was doing in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and Suicide Squad.

On top of all that, the film is a technical travesty. The camera's rarely in focus, actors are constantly out of frame while speaking, there are useless establishing shot of the Golden Gate bridge or San Fransisco itself in between nearly every scene, the editing's extraordinarily inept, and there's no attention to detail as props relocate between shots. I could go on and on and on about all the abundant issues that plague this project, but I won't for the sake of length.

It's notoriously known that Tommy Wiseau had extreme difficulty memorizing lines, and it really shows... In fact, his ineptitude in regards to film production shines through every second of The Room. However, this indulges audience with an overbearing amount of memorable moments that likely helped launch The Room to its current cult status. 

Despite everything I've said so far, this film is enormously entertaining when watched with a crowd. Arthouse theaters all around the country play The Room monthly, so you should see it if you can find one playing the film near you. It's well worth watching in spite of its infinite flaws, will go down as one of the most interesting experiences you'll have ever had in a theater auditorium, and leave you sufficiently prepared to watch The Disaster Artist.  

The Room is one of those films that's so bad that it's actually enjoyable to watch. While that could certainly be on account of the screening I was at, I choose to believe the film itself is genuinely that unique. Either way, The Room is easily the best worst thing I've ever seen on a cinema screen!

Film Assessment: F