A Watery Synopsis and a Thin, Over-Hyped Leading Performance

Rating: 5/10 (10 March 2018)

James Franco takes a swing at the story behind The Room, a film so hopelessly inept it's developed a tenured, loyal cult following. This take has moments, but often seems to merely skim (if not altogether miss) what makes the subject so fascinating. Maybe I'd have better appreciated it if I hadn't read Greg Sestero's tell-all of the same name, which delves much deeper into the production's dysfunction. By comparison, this feels like a watery synopsis that, puzzlingly, leaves out some of the most interesting backstage dishes. It can't have been in the pursuit of a smoother narrative or a more clear-cut relationship between the two leads, because those blessings never arrive. Franco both directs and stars as Tommy Wiseau, the confusingly secretive social outcast at the center of it all, but given the buzz and awards surrounding his performance I was left wondering if I'd missed something. The famous accent doesn't feel quite right, often played with a wink and a grin that belies a soft undercurrent of derision, and his wardrobe may as well have come from a seasonal Halloween shop. His role comes off like an awkward cosplay rather than a serious performance, a gag act that went too far, and the surrounding film isn't fiery, appealing or even interesting enough to compensate. Good for a few laughs at best, maybe more for viewers less familiar with the subject, but as a one-man show it falls flat.