The Disaster Artist is a Funny and Informative Look at a Spectacularly Bad Movie

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2017)

The Room is one of those movies that is like a right of passage. If you're a fan of campy movies or you want to call yourself a movie lover, you have to watch it. I watched it just to prepare for The Disaster Artist. I thought there's no way its as bad as people say. Ya... it really is. I didn't fall in love with it as Franco and his friends obviously have but I wasn't angry while I was watching it. There are some moments where you can't help but laugh (I did naaaat! Oh hi Mark) and there were many times where I couldn't help but cover my face because of how awkward it gets (any part where anyone imitates a chicken). But it is the definition of awful film making. I just felt sorry for everyone involved, they obviously threw everything they had into it, they just didn't have the required talent to pull it off. Having seen The Disaster Artist, those suspicions are now confirmed.
The Disaster Artist is really Greg's account of how crazy the process of making The Room was and how his friendship with Tommy developed. I think you'll get the most out of this movie if you have seen The Room because with all the behind-the-scenes stories, it gives context to how the bizarre choices in the movie happened. This is effective because you can't help but ask yourself who thought making this movie was a good idea? after you've seen The Room. From Tommy's new style of on camera love making to why they replicated the alley from outside of the studio to film in rather than the actual alley, you find out why. I've seen movies that delve in deeper to the process of how to make a movie but I enjoyed this all the same.
The biggest surprise of this movie is they are so heartfelt when they really delve into Tommy's psyche and his relationship with Greg. I have to echo Seth Rogen when he said that it would have been really easy to just relentlessly mock Wiseau and call him a freak. There's a scene with Bob Odenkirk and a room full of acting students where they address that. But Tommy wants to be the hero so badly that you feel sorry for him. Although he isn't always the good guy, he really went for it and that is admirable. His friendship with Greg also is heartwarming. At the beginning of the movie, every time Greg was hanging out with Tommy I wanted to yell STRANGER DANGER! But you can see why these guys would be friends and when Greg consoles Tommy in the end, its a really nice moment and it highlights one of the big strengths of the film.
If you haven't seen The Room, the first thing that's going to grab your attention in the trailer is how wacky James Francos is playing Tommy Wiseau. If you have seen The Room, you know how close he is to Tommy as he nails his accent, his style and his weird mannerisms. Some people have suggested a Best Actor nomination but I don't know if I'd go that far. He gives a funny and engaging lead performance. Dave Franco is just as good as Greg Sistero. He's great at playing a very innocent and starstruck young actor who finds a kindred spirit in Tommy. Dave's a better actor than he's given credit for and he's both funny and sincere in this movie. Past those two lead performances, this movie is a parade of famous actors in supporting roles or cameos. Seth Rogen is really funny as Sandy, he's the one who calls Tommy out on his bizarre behaviour the most. Alison Brie is decent in her small role as Amber. Jacki Weaver and Ari Graynor were both amusing and sweet. My favourites of the cameos were Zac Efron and Josh Hutcherson as a way to intense Chis-R and a completely miscast Denny.
The hype around this movie was enormous and while I am generally a fan of the Franco brothers, Rogen and they're troop of friends, the only negative is that while this movie is funny, it still fell a little short in the comedy department. I got a couple of really big laughs but it was mostly just chuckles throughout. Almost all of the best parts are when they are directly skewering a specifically awful part of The Room so the parts exclusively dealing with Tommy and Greg outside of the movie can drag a little.
The Disaster Artist is a love letter to The Room and all the unintentional laughter it inspires. It gives you some insight into how this movie caught lightening in a bottle in delivering a horrific product that people could still enjoy. To add on that, you get some good performances, a laundry list of funny celebrities making cameos and a nice story of enduring friendship. The Disaster Artist isn't my favourite movie of the year but I enjoyed it enough to give it an 8/10. I'd recommend it to fans of The Room, campy cinema or the Judd Apatow stable of comedians.