They're three types of people who will watch The Disaster Artist; those who have seen The Room and love it; those who have seen The Room and loathed it; and those who are yet to experience The Room. After watching it recently in preparation for this film, I very securely inhabit that middle category. It's horrific. Abysmal, even. Easily one of the worst films I've ever seen and I don't buy into the 'so-bad-it's-good' labelling. I hate it. I loathe it. But in prepping my year-end list and to keep up-to-date with the increasingly heated, difficult-to-call Oscar race, I thought I'd give it a chance. It couldn't be worse, right?
The Disaster Artist is based on the memoir released by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell, subtitled 'My Life inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Film Ever Made'. As the title suggests, it focused on what many consider the very worst film made and the man behind it - Tommy Wiseau. A man who remains an utter enigma - no one knows how old he is, how his seemingly bottomless source of income is generated and from what corner of the world he comes from - Wiseau's mysteriousness only adds to the intrigue of The Disaster Artist and while it doesn't deliver answers to these bigger questions, it certainly provides context. The passion project assembles a star-studded cast, reuniting James and Dave Franco with Seth Rogen, alongside the likes of Zac Efron, Josh Hutcherson and Alison Brie.
In short, The Disaster Artist is just fine for someone without an unyielding love for the 2003 disaster-piece. There is a great deal of fun to be had and the committed performances from the game cast ensure that, at the very least, you have a sporadic amount of fun with it. No matter your relationship with the Wiseau directed, produced, financed and starring abomination, you can have a good time.
The Franco Brothers are the stand-outs in a largely good cast. James truly loses himself as Wiseau, capturing his spirit, intricacies and behaviour pretty damn faultlessly. Mastering his idiosyncrasies perfectly, it is a crowning achievement that should keep him in the Best Actor award-season race until the very end. Perhaps it is the fact that James and Tommy share a strikingly similar path to fame - neither are taken seriously, they are both 'artistically troubled' and have, rightly or wrongly, become the butt of some joke or another - but the older Franco brother really gets to grips with the character and delivers a truly impressive performance than embodies Mr. Wiseau fantastically.
Dave Franco may not be showered in as much glory as his brother for his role but he is probably the film's MVP. He bears so much of the emotional weight and truly carries the film when the narrative has trouble finding its way. He's engaging, magnetic and charming, an antidote to moments where Tommy himself may become alienating or unlikeable, managing a tight balance on the back of his aplomb performance. In a film that otherwise lacks it, subtly is key to his performance and he excels because of the control and poise demonstrated.
James Franco takes the directorial reigns too, juggling both roles effectively. There's a clear technical accomplishment in the scene recreations at the tail end; whether these scenes are totally necessary is another question altogether but they are fun nonetheless. He possesses a clear fondness for the source material but with it comes a constant tussle between presenting it as a homage or a parody; it's difficult to point-point what they are trying to do with it, floundering while they look for a resolute purpose, rhythm and balance. While The Disaster Artist is frequently entertaining, its existence outside of funny people saying funny things while exploring an unfunny film and hoping for an Oscar or two, is bizarre.
Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber's screenplay is undoubtedly fun, brimming with detailed flourishes destined to be lapped up by the disaster-pieces' ardent supporters - but the film never fully commits to them. It tries to be wider and broader in its scope and you can see it trying to break out beyond that niche market and demographic, but it's not always successful. It doesn't have all that much to say: it does provide insight and documents the troubled production but it is always hints at being something more than it actually has the answers for. While it gives fans of The Room everything they could possibly desire, it feels pointless in the grand scheme of things. In fact - and this is an analogy I use probably too frequently - it's like an SNL skit stretched to feature-length runtime.
The Disaster Artist made me loathe The Room more than I thought possible, but it did make me all the more intrigued in Wiseau and his cinematic catastrophe. Franco builds an undeniably well-made, entertaining film - but it doesn't provide me with enough new information, and it plays out from a somewhat uninspired angle. Dave and James Franco are phenomenal here and it really wouldn't work without their performances - but it seems split between homage and parody and doesn't truly develop a rhythm. The Disaster Artist didn't tear me apart with either love or hate resulting in a somewhat enjoyable but unnecessary chapter.
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
(6/10)
Summary: The Disaster Artist might not exactly get 'hai marks' from me (because my hatred for The Room runs so deep), but it is a frequently entertaining, terrifically-acted and well-made film that you can still enjoy (if not fully appreciate) without a connection to Wiseau's disasterpiece.