The trailers for The Disaster Artist did not appeal to me. I ran into a friend at our screening of Water Wheel and he couldn't say enough good things about the movie. He explained that the film was about the making of a movie called The Room, which has been called "the worst movie of all time." Based on his recommendation, my wife and I went to see The Disaster Artist two nights ago. The bright spot? We have moviepass, so it didn't actually cost us anything to see this film.
The Room is a 2003 film that was produced, financed, written, directed and starring Tommy Wiseau. Tommy is a bit of an enigma. His claim to be from New Orleans is betrayed by his thick eastern European accent. He sees himself as a leading man, but his appearance and dress lends themselves more to a sinister role. No one knows his age, but he definitely is not the same age as his friend and co-star, Greg Sestero. The pair met in acting class and decide to train together. When neither of them have any success landing a role in Hollywood, Tommy decides that he is going to create his own film. Rather than renting equipment, he buys everything, shoots in dual formats and hires a complete staff to work on the film. Tommy does not take any advice from the pros. He makes the film he wants to make, rents a theater for two weeks and does a full premiere. The film is horrible, but it becomes a cult classic. There is no way a film this bad should ever recoup the 6 million (estimated) it cost to create the film. But it manages to eke out the money from a cult following. It is set to be re-released in 2018, too.
The Disaster Artist tells the backstory of The Room. James Franco takes the role of the enigmatic Tommy while his brother Dave Franco plays Greg. The film follows the story from the day the pair meet to the premiere of the film. The story is mostly a character study where Greg is probably considered the lead character. Even though the film is essentially about Tommy. It was an interesting way to present the story, but I think it allows for a more introspective study of the Tommy, who appears to have used the film to tell his own story. Tommy is a bit tormented. But he is also very true to his own vision. To a fault. His worldview does not have a foundation in reality. The film ends with the final screening and audience reactions, as well as some facts about The Room. The credits are cut with dual scenes that were reproduced from the original film. That may have been the best part of the film.
I am being a bit harsh on this film. It did have redeeming qualities. Franco delivered a flawless performance. He really nailed his part. It was just tedious for me to watch at times. It is more the subject matter than the delivery. A film about the making of the worst film ever could have been worse. But Tommy is so bizarre that the role tested my patience at times. If he weren't a real person, I would say the character was overdone. But having seen some interview footage of Tommy, I don't think it was. The acting was good, the cinematography was good, as a biography, it appeared to be pretty accurate. From a cinematic perspective, the film was everything it should be. It was just the story itself that didn't really capture my attention.
The Disaster Artist is a one hour, 44 minute film that received an R rating from the MPAA. The rating is based on language, sexuality and nudity. The nudity is James Franco, who does a fully nude scene, with just his genitals covered with a sock-like device. I believe this was true to the real film. Tommy thought the audience needed to see his buttocks to sell the film. The reaction of the audience during the final screening was possibly the highlight of the film. This is not a film for kids, and probably not for a lot of adults. It's not my cup of tea, even though IMDb currently has the film at 8.1.
As a film buff, The Disaster Artist is a film I should like. It is a film about the process. It is a biography about the making of an infamous film. But I just didn't see the appeal of this film. While it superior from many technical aspects, particularly the acting, the story itself was just average for me. I didn't hate the film. I just would never have paid to see it in the theater. Even with my free moviepass, I did not intend to see this film in the theater. Based on IMDb, there are a lot of people raving about this film. You may think I'm crazy for giving it a significantly lower rating. But I can only muster a mild recommendation. This is more for hard core movie fans, I think. 6/10.
