"You're tearing me apart, Lisa!", "I did not hit her", "I definately have breast cancer" and more, brought to life on the big screen

Rating: 9/10 (15 December 2017)

This movie is amazing. I just want to state that as a blanket statement that is movie, much as Tim Burton's Ed Wood that I also love, sends up terrible filmmaking but also manages to get to the person underneath those terrible movies.
Obviously, whilst Ed Wood was based on Ed Wood's life of making many films, such as Glen or Glenda, Bride of the Monster building up to Plan 9 from Outer Space, and it makes it specifically it clear that this was a work of passion that was worked hard to make happen, this movie is based solely on the making of The Room - and casts a very different kind of persona at the centre of it.
The screenplay - whilst it doesn't include everything from Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell's award winning book of the same name, and couldn't since there's so much content in that book it would take a 6 episode mini-series to cover all of it - does very articulately communicate how chaotic the behinds-the-scenes of the movie was, and keep humour going even when it borders into actual, genuine danger for the cast and crew. It also makes it clear, although it doesn't border the point on - which is good filmmaking, as it allows you to craft your own thoughts - is that in comparison to Ed Wood, who put his entire lifeforce into making his so called disasterpieces, the same can't be said for Wiseau, as at every step and turn he just pays for everything because he's so rich and can afford it, and his ultimate fame is ultimately anything but hard work. In order to balance that with a funny, engaging, rewatchable film is quite an achievement, which it more than manages.
The best things about this movie BY FAR is the performances, particularly from James Franco, who has a massive challenge in trying to bring to life a guy who is not only as much of a cartoon as you can imagine, but also that no-one actually knows anything about - Tommy Wiseau isn't even his real name - and brings the person to the forefront. In one particular scene, where Tommy is completely naked and yelling at everyone for everything you could imagine, it runs the gambit of funny, terrifying, douchey, vulnerable, terrifying, back to funny again, and really helps make this one of Franco's strongest performances alongside 127 Hours, Spring Breakers and Milk.
Dave Franco and Seth Rogen also help the film keep it's tone. Rogen does great at doing what he does best - speak for the audience it seems, in the moment. Sandy, as the script supervisor, is someone who gets the best arguments with Wiseau as the most experienced filmmaker on the crew, who will mention things the audience will see and think, like 'Why's he having sex with her belly button?' or pull up the infamous laugh in Mark's domestic abuse story. He is kind of underused a bit, as is most of the cast, but with a cast that big, it is likely to happen; pretty much, it's the case of the cast is spread a mile wide but an inch deep, although all of them do get a chance to shine for a moment.
Dave Franco does a solid job here; he is very much the POV character here, as the movie is framed kind of like how Foxcatcher frames John Du Pont, or The Last King of Scotland frames Idi Amin, like this this Wiseau. When we watch Greg through this movie, we do get a fully realised sense of why these two would be friends, and why after everything they'd still be doing all this stuff for each other. Greg also gets a lot of compelling scenes with Tommy, the other cast, his girlfriend Amber (played by Dave Franco's wife Allison Brie), and the best cameo in a movie full of cameos, Bryan Cranston as himself.
I really enjoyed this movie; there are issues, but they don't ruin the whole movie but just detract a little bit, whether that be pacing, or falling too much into a biopic trope (namely the Greg and Tommy fight near the end), and certainly don't make the film any less funny or rewatchable.