Inside "The Room"

Rating: 8/10 (6 May 2018)

If you've never experienced the pain & pleasure of Tommy Wiseau's disasterpiece "The Room", that is a situation that definitely must be remedied before watching "The Disaster Artist". "The Room" isn't just a bad movie; it's one of the worst movies of all time (but still not nearly as bad as "Manos: The Hands of Fate"). At the center of it all stands Tommy Wiseau, the writer/director/producer whose passion project became a classic for all of the wrong reasons. Baffling movie-making decisions combined with an eccentric persona and a mysterious background made Tommy a fascinating subject for a movie but what really propels "The Disaster Artist" is the examination of the friendship between Wiseau & "The Room" co-star Greg Sestero. These were two men who went to Hollywood with little more than a dream and ended up becoming part of a movie that is likely to outlive many of the award winners from the same timeframe.
The movie begins in 1998 when Greg (Dave Franco) & Tommy (James Franco) first meet at an acting class. Greg, who is struggling, admires Tommy's fearlessness and, before long, they end up heading to Hollywood together in an attempt to break into the movie business. Although initially disheartened by their lack of success, they decide to make their own movie and, thus, "The Room" is born. As expected, there's a fair amount of time devoted to the making of "The Room" but what's surprising is the drama that Tommy & Greg's sometimes strained friendship brings to the picture.
Bringing Tommy & Greg to life were brothers James & Dave Franco, respectively. The Tommy role was the more challenging of the two and James Franco ended up landing a Golden Globe for his performance. I think he definitely immersed himself in the part and if he doesn't look or sound quite like Tommy (frankly, who does?) he definitely has the spirit of the character down pat. Dave Franco also doesn't really look or sound all that much like Greg Sestero but, again, I think that he got the spirit of the character right, which is what really matters. The supporting cast features a number of familiar faces, sometimes in what amount to cameo roles. Seth Rogen might be the most prominent member of the supporting cast and he provides a few laughs, as usual.
The movie was directed by James Franco who, surprisingly (to me, at least), already had several directorial credits to his name. This has definitely been his most high profile project to date, though. I think he did a good job, though nothing about the direction stands out in my mind as being particularly exceptional in retrospect. Musically, the movie features a handful of well-chosen cuts from around the time period of the movie. Needless to say, the movie's production values are several notches above those of "The Room".
Overall, "The Disaster Artist" is a well done comedy-drama with a unique story. Although objectively much better than "The Room", it most likely won't prove to be as memorable in the long run. That being said, I do think that the screenwriters deserved their Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Lastly, it goes without saying that this movie will be enjoyed more by viewers who are already familiar with "The Room".