Review of The Disaster Artist (2017) by Ilja S — 02 Jan 2018

I'm not really into the whole 'it's so bad it's good' thing, and am not one of the fans of the cult movie 'The Room' (2003), so I'm afraid this review is going to be counter to prevailing opinions.

James Franco turns in a strong performance to be sure, and really does recreate the making of that awful film (as he's eager to show us in clips put side by side at the end), but I guess I have to wonder.

..why? I don't think the stupidity of Tommy Wiseau needed to be further immortalized. There are some very human moments - Franco saying 'you're the monster' to an audience who don't support his attempts at drama, and later him cringing at his premiere amidst the hooting and hollering of the crowd - but they are offset by everything else, which is just laughing at how idiotic this guy was.

Regardless, I don't find the film (either the original or this 'documentary') all that funny, although Seth Rogen did rip off a few good lines. I admire Franco for the uniqueness of this film and for the tightness of his storytelling, and for that it's worth watching - but I also think it's overrated, and that Franco could apply his talents to far better things.