Review of The Disaster Artist (2017) by Teddy F — 14 Dec 2017

From the trailers I saw, I already knew that the Disaster Artist was going to be good; the question was, how good? The Disaster Artist is a beautiful tale of two underdogs in society trying to make it in Hollywood and how they sort of actually do. Excellently adapted from the book, The Disaster Artist depicts the back story, the inspiration, and the creation of the "greatest bad movie ever made". Before I delve into my review, I feel that it is necessary to provide some quick context for those who are unaware of what this film is. The Room is considered one of the worst films ever made, full of poor writing, cheap looking sets, flat acting, unnecessarily long sex scenes, and random football sessions; despite its extreme flaws, The Room has developed a cult following since its two-week theater run in 2003. Now you're probably wondering why does a movie that is so bad have such a following? This is because despite the massive problems with the movie, it is still enjoyable (for some at least, not all appreciate it). There are several memorable scenes and lines that you may see people quote from time to time, and the movie is so bad that you can't help but laugh. The Room is like a bad joke, you like it ironically...until you don't and start calling the man behind the whole thing, Tommy Wiseau, a mastermind. I fall in the camp of people who appreciate The Room for what it is, and although I've never been to one of the infamous midnight screenings, I still was very excited by the prospect of a movie about the creation of The Room. Now that I've established what makes The Disaster Artist special (sort of), and why my anticipation was so high (possibly more than Star Wars 8), I think it's time to review the film at hand.

Led by the Franco brothers, The Disaster Artist takes a sympathetic and good-hearted? approach to the story of the mysterious Tommy Wiseau and how he came to make such a bad yet so good movie; The Disaster Artist could've easily mocked The Room at Tommy's expense but instead the film feels more inspired by what Tommy did, which was create a movie on his own terms and fulfill his own ambitions against all odds. Beyond the heartwarming tone of the movie, The Disaster Artist is also one of the funniest films of the year; it is complete with nods to The Room's most infamous scenes and accurately portrays the craziness of Wiseau's character. The movie begins strong and ends stronger, The Disaster Artist is basically perfect at telling the story it wanted to. The script is also splendidly well-written, sounding exactly like what the people would say in real life.

One of my favorite performances of the year, James Franco came as close to capturing Tommy Wiseau as any man could; from the accent to the clothes, to his dialogue and laugh, Franco was spot on and a lot of fun to watch. Dave Franco was equally as impressive playing Greg Sestero, the author of the book that inspired the movie who was Wiseau's best friend and co-star in The Room. Dave and James' bromance felt real and as an audience member, you can't help but root for these two to succeed.

It's been days now since I saw the Disaster Artist and I still can't stop thinking about how good it is, nor can I stop listening to the 90s-dance hit "Rhythm of the Night" by Corona, which blends in perfectly with the film. The only flaw I can think of for the movie is that it might've dragged for a couple of minutes in the middle, but I say that about almost everything so whatever. As a fan of The Room, I have a special appreciation for the film that people who haven't seen The Room might not share so take my review with a grain of salt; either way, I definitely recommend The Disaster Artist as it's such a great film to watch and be inspired by.