James Franco wears eccentric well in ‘Disaster’
It’s a miracle that The Room not only exists but does so as a bona fide cult classic, a movie so fascinatingly bad it defies logic. At least the film paying tribute to said cinematic train wreck is actually quite good.
A hilarious comedy with enough personality clashes and drama to give it some heft, The Disaster Artist ( rated R; in select cities Friday, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Seattle and San Francisco, opens nationwide Dec. 8) is director James Franco’s enjoyable ode to the creative process — any creative process, really. It’s also one of Franco’s strongest roles as an actor, capturing every little quirk and quality of a definite eccentric. The Disaster of the title refers to The
Room, the 2003 film by writer/director/ star/producer/unconventionalist Tommy Wiseau that found a devoted fandom, despite making little sense. (For those who haven’t seen the modern midnight movie, The Room centers on a banker, played by Wiseau, whose fian- cée cheats on him with his best friend. It’s also a film chock-full of bad acting and random plot threads that go nowhere.) Franco chronicles the chaotic creation of the DIY movie, as well as the friendship between Wiseau (Franco) and fellow acting wannabe Greg Sestero (Dave Franco, James’ brother), who puts his entire life on hold to help Wiseau create his masterwork.
Greg becomes enamored with Tommy’s fearlessness after seeing him completely overact at a drama class — everything with this dude is like a Marlon Brando line reading, done in an accent that melds Eastern European and California surfer speak. They become pals, even though Tommy asks him never to inquire about his backstory, and he and Greg struggle to see The Room come to fruition. And there are obvious pitfalls, from Wiseau needing umpteen takes to get scenes right to crew members who look at him like he’s a crazy person.
James Franco never pokes fun at his highly eccentric subject — rather, he inhabits this strange character with a sense of humorous awe and respect, much like Johnny Depp in Ed Wood and Jim Carrey as Man on the Moon’s Andy Kaufman. Franco nails Wiseau’s strange mannerisms, from his off-kilter laugh to his goofy football-tossing style to the nasty way he utters, “Oh, hai.” More importantly, he captures the per- severance of a dreamer who refuses to quit. (The real Wiseau is also independently wealthy, which helps in making a $6 million movie that looks like it was done for five bucks.)
A number of comedians and celebrities pop up in fun cameos: Franco pal Seth Rogen has a sizable role as The
Room’s embattled script supervisor; Zac Efron and Josh Hutcherson guest as thespians in the movie-within-themovie; and Kristen Bell and Keegan-Michael Key lend their praises to the original in Disaster’s opening.
The film is an interesting beast, being a sort-of biopic of someone who is mostly unknown: If you’ve never seen
The Room, Disaster Artist might as well be out-there fiction. The funniest material does call back to Wiseau’s “best worst movie,” so while it’s not entirely necessary, doing some preliminary viewing homework is worth it.
Franco re-created parts of The Room for use throughout Disaster Artist, his best filmmaking venture to date. However, he makes a bigger impact in front of the camera as a man we can’t begin to wrap our heads around but who serves as a bonkers metaphor for the very human need to create.