Review of The Disaster Artist (2017) by Joshua S — 27 Dec 2017

The culture of appreciation built around "bad cinema" is a curious thing and its open acceptance is a relatively recent development. Mystery Science Theater 3000 brought it to Primetime Middle America, while Red Letter Media has done much the same more recently, heavily influencing internet culture in the process. Bad cinema is now mainstream. And the poster child for this new age - Tommy Wiseau and his cult classic, The Room. A "film" considered so absurd, so quotable, so overwrought, so thinly connected, so alien, so...bad it's almost...good. Its production was a nightmare and the original release was a complete bomb, even by independent standards, but word of mouth, and endless self-promotion by Wiseau helped turn its fortunes. The Room, in the end, became profitable and the movie is now the stuff of internet legend. So naturally it's a story worth telling right?

Turns out, it is. Based LOOSELY from a book by Greg Sestero (Tommy Wiseau's former collaborator and friend) The Disaster Artist is an earnest and poignant film about artistic creation in the face of endless rejection - even if the process and result is truly terrible. James Franco produces and directs the picture, while starring as Tommy Wiseau. In addition to the amount of work all three of those tasks entail, Franco pulls a convincing Wiseau without falling into SNL style parody, as most actors would be tempted to do. His take is quite humanizing, without sugarcoating his egotism and boorish behavior on set. Though, Wiseau's creepier and darker moments from the book are glossed over, in favor of portraying his quixotic desire to create a Tennessee Williams style melodrama. Dave Franco plays Greg, and therefore the straight man of the story. His performance is average to be honest, but the interactions between him and Tommy are the crux and heart of the narrative. Other cameos and minor roles by celebrities are cute, but it does feel like Hollywood wanted to congratulate itself at moments, which felt out of place here. The humor is pretty spot on and the perfect, shot-by-shot recreations of The Room and its set are pretty uncanny.

It's hard not to point out similarities between The Disaster Artist and the underappreciated Tim Burton gem Ed Wood, a stylish black-and-white biopic about another maligned director. (Ed Wood is most famous for Plan 9 from Outer Space, the original "Citizen Kane of Bad Movies.") Both are essentially tributes to filmmaking and the creative process through the lens of an incompetent filmmaker and the people in their lives that help or impede him. However, Ed Wood still takes the cake, as it was hyper-stylized and truly unique, and featured some of the best work Burton ever did. The Disaster Artist doesn't have an artistic stamp and doesn't have as much to say. Plus, who can forget that moment where Ed Wood (the worst director of all time) meets Orson Welles (the greatest director of all time) and they have a bit more in common than you'd think. In either case The Disaster Artist is damn fine movie and may pick up some gold statues, which is kind of ironic if you think about it.

While the internet and myself have been pointlessly arguing over what is, in the end, a mediocre Star Wars sequel, James Franco will probably get nominated for an Oscar for his work here. Which means that Tommy Fucking Wiseau may be sitting beside him at The Academy Awards next year. You tell me who won in this scenario.