Absolutely Worth the Anticipation

Rating: 9/10 (5 February 2018)

As an ironic fan of The Room and a legitimate fan of the book based on the making of the movie and the friendship of Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero, The Disaster Artist, I had been waiting months in anticipation for James Franco's film adaptation of said book. To say it did not disappoint would be a gross understatement, it was an amazing thrill ride.
The general storyline focuses on two aspiring actors, Greg Sestero and Tommy Wiseau, who decide to make their own movie while struggling to make ends meet in Los Angeles. However, not only is Tommy incompetent as both an actor and a filmmaker, but the whole film makes one wonder whether or not Greg will stick to Tommy through think and thin or if he's wasting his time with this eccentric weirdo.
What makes the movie authentic is how faithful it is to the book and Tommy Wiseau. While a few things were obviously changed here to either fit the running time or to work as an adaptation, it still succeeds in capturing Sestero and Wiseau's friendship from when they first met at an acting class, to living in LA to get their acting careers off the ground, to the troublesome production of their movie, to the premiere. It makes both characters very relatable to the audience, especially whenever Greg tries to understand Tommy's view on the world while being by his side.
The movie can almost be seen as the modern day Ed Wood in how it "seems to hold a certain amount of respect for Wiseau's chutzpah, while also critically looking at what makes The Room such a disaster" (Stefan Ellison). Granted it doesn't present Wiseau in as positive of a light as Ed Wood did with its titular character, but as eccentric and oddball as Tommy seems, all he really wanted was to bring his vision to life. Same applies to Greg Sestero, because he chose to tag along in the making of The Room just to get his name out there, let alone be there for Tommy.
Speaking of the making, what Franco nailed in his direction was recreating the scenes from The Room for this movie, and the resemblances are near uncanny he did such a good job. As for the behind the scenes making, the crew are just like how they were described in the book, from script supervisor Sandy Schklair and cinematographer Raphael Smadja summing up anyone trying to comprehend Tommy's method of filmmaking, or lack thereof. Like in the book, Tommy was both an incomprehensible weirdo and an asshole that really tested the crew's patience during the making from one scene to the next, and Franco does not shy away from Wiseau's sudden outbursts and egocentric attitude.
As for the acting, it is simply wonderful. While Dave Franco is good as Sestero, James Franco accurately nails the role of Wiseau, really capturing his indistinguishable accent, his laughable attempts at acting, and even his emotions, whether they be soft, angry, or even sad. Anyone can imitate Tommy, but it takes a genius of an actor to capture the right emotional key of someone, and Franco hit it home. Even the many well known actors in the film are well casted, like Megan Mullally as Greg's overly anxious mother, to Judd Apatow as an obstacle of a producer towards Wiseau, to Seth Rogen as the aforementioned Schklair, to Alison Brie as Sestero's cute albeit concerned girlfriend Amber, and even Josh Hutcherson and Ari Graynor as Philip Haldiman and Juliette Danielle doing whatever it takes to follow Tommy's orders as the actors, while getting annoyed in the process.
Overall, James Franco's adaptation of The Disaster Artist is a worthy tribute to the friendship of Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero and their movie. By showing the side of Hollywood with struggling artists making films most likely not seen outside of late night programs, it still shows how astonishing it was to see Wiseau complete his phenomenally terrible $6 million passion albeit vain project and have it play in a theater. What could have easily been forgotten about has become a staple of disastrous cinema around the world by thousands of people. Without the movie's growing popularity, we would not have gotten to see the hilarious and faithful book that inspired this movie. Tommy's Planet may forever be a mystery, but we have The Room and The Disaster Artist to help us theorize where this fascinating weirdo originated from, let alone where he got the money to make his movie.