A one-joke film.

Rating: 6/10 (28 March 2018)

Back in 1994, Tim Burton made one of his very best movies...."Ed Wood". Wood was a bio-pic about one of the worst film directors in movie history...and the film was terrific. Now, 23 years later, James Franco has made another film about a bad movie auteur, Tommy Wiseau...the writer, director and star of "The Room". "The Room" is such a terrible film that it's become a bit of a cult hit and theaters have shown it on and off for years. However, "The Disaster Artist" is not the same sort of film "Ed Wood" was for one very important reason....Wiseau seems to be a complete narcissist with antisocial tendencies and Ed Wood was a nice guy.
"The Disaster Artist" is mostly about Wiseau's work in creating "The Room" and is less a bio-pic. Through the course of the film, you see that Wiseau is 100% clueless about everything...a man who is painfully lacking self-awareness. He's a complete narcissist who thinks his ability is limitless...and folks around him really don't matter as it's all about him. As a result, you naturally dislike Wiseau...which makes the film much tougher to enjoy than "Ed Wood". And, a movie about an untalented guy who is unlikable is tough to watch after a while, as it's pretty much a one-joke film. It's not bad....but I don't think it lived up to the hype because of Wiseau. As for James Franco, he did a great job in playing Wiseau....and I can respect this and the work he put into making "The Disaster Artist".
By the way, Wiseau's cluelessness was pretty obvious at the Golden Globes when he charged up to the stage...as if he was a great filmmaker and not the butt of most folks' jokes. I am still not sure if he realizes that "The Disaster Artist" is NOT a positive portrait of this very strange man.