The Disaster Artist is a character-study, a story about friendship and pursuing your dreams, and an effective comedy. It follows the real-life experiences of Greg Sestero and Tommy Wiseau as they meet, become friends, and produce one of best worst movies ever made… The Room.
The Disaster Artist is mostly propped up by James Franco’s performance as Tommy. He’s put a lot into mirroring a person who has an unusual cadence and energy, and he’s convincing in the role. Franco plays this role completely straight, but that’s enough to get laughs on its own.
James Franco takes credit for directing this movie too. He wisely steers clear of inserting too much flourish into this movie. Without being heavy-handed it allows you to focus on Franco’s own mesmerizing performance and the unusual relationship between Tommy and Greg.
While I won’t ding the performance of Dave Franco, who is fine, it is highly distracting that he looks so damn much like his brother. These guys are supposed to be friends… but come on, they are obviously related. A beard and goofy hair can’t hide that fact.
The other actors in this movie are good in their thin roles. Seth Rogan plays a script supervisor named Sandy as understated as possible, and he’s very likable. It’s always good to see Alison Brie in literally anything, but there’s no meat in her character.
Almost every speaking line in this movie, no matter how small, is played by a celebrity, which does pull you a bit out of the movie, but this movie is supposed to be fun, and it does help to accomplish that task.
The screenplay for The Disaster Artist is based on the book My Life Inside The Room by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. I won’t say that The Disaster Artist is deep, but the story is sound and compelling.
Tommy Wiseau is certainly an unusual character, and his awkward but genuine relationship with Greg Sestero, and the story of making The Room is fascinating.
The Disaster Artist is good for a few laughs, but James Franco’s portrayal of Tommy, and the bizarre story of the making of The Room, hoists this movie another notch.