One of the funniest of the year

Rating: 9/10 (18 December 2017)

'The Disaster Artist' is written by Scott Neudstadter and Michael H. Weber, based on a book of the same name by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissel, and is directed by James Franco. It also stars Franco as Tommy Wiseau. The film is about the friendship between the aforementioned Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero and how it led them to make what is often called the worst movie of all time namely 'The Room' . And that is an important point to make- Franco and co were not so interested in superficially showing how Wiseau made a terrible movie and getting us to laugh at it but rather in showing that Wiseau is a passionate artist and legitimately believed that he was making a masterpiece.
The strong elements of the movie lie in Franco's lead performance as Wiseau, which is one of the best of the year, and in the script which allows us to engage with Tommy and learn about his inspirations as well as his often wacky and peculiar mannerisms. The direction is less impressive and rather understated but I imagine it is rather difficult to direct yourself directing a movie which is exactly what Franco does here. Dave Franco costars as Greg Sestero in a competent performance but one which is overshadowed by his brother's. As I mention in the headline of this review it is very funny but not in the typical way Franco tries to be in his usual stoner comedies with Seth Rogen. It is funny because of the genuine bizarre behavior of Tommy Wiseau and especially the reactions he garners from his cast and crew on the set of 'The Room'.
Coincidentally, Rogen is also in the movie as Raphael i.e. the script supervisor on 'The Room' who in actuality ended up directing a large portion of the movie due to Wiseau's constant lateness to set and general incompetence. This is also a departure for him as you won't hear his patented 'pot laugh' in this film. All in all 'The Disaster Artist succeeds wildly (and even elicited applause at the end in the screening I attended) due to the strong central performance by James Franco and the comedy and heart and he and the screenplay bring with it.