REVIEW: The Disaster ArtistBy Quinn OxleyDecember 11, 2017Longtime fans will know I’m a fan of The Room. I can quote the movie from beginning to end; I’ve watched countless best-of compilations; I wrote up an entire trailer reaction the day of The Disaster Artist’s trailer release. Tommy Wiseau is a saint (and a writer, and an actor, and a director, and a producer, and a financier…).

So I was insanely excited for this film.

Tommy Wiseau (James Franco). What a name. What a face. What a head of hair. He’s… um… eccentric, and in the strangest of ways. Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) one day asks Tommy to do a scene with him for their acting class, and before they know it they’re travelling to LA together to try to make it big as actors. This proves harder than suspected, though, and soon enough they decide to make their own movie together instead of waiting for their big break. But critics are harsh, and Tommy has his own very unconventional, often hostile way of doing things.

James Franco, and by extension Tommy Wiseau, is the star of the film. The first scene had be skeptical, but soon his caricature became a loving and empathetic mirroring of Wiseau’s charming eccentricity. The mystery is mesmerizing, due in part to the actual Wiseau’s secrecy and in part to James’s respectful portrayal.

Greg Sestero, however, is not so fortunate. Dave Franco seems to only be playing Dave Franco; I failed to see much Sestero in the mix. The story is told through Sestero’s experiences; he is in essence the audience’s conduit for a firsthand encounter with James’s Wiseau. Because Dave lacks a genuine likability, the entire experience is cheapened. His casting is excusable, because, as brothers, James and Dave will experience a chemistry unlike that of James with any other actor. But The Disaster Artist deserves so much more than “excusable.”

But again, James makes for an incredible Wiseau. Not only did the cast and crew of the film remain very true to the events that actually took place during the filming of The Room, but they do so in such an enthusiastic and appreciative way. It is obvious that Wiseau lacks the conventional charm of those who make it in Hollywood, but as an audience member, you cannot help but root for him because his story is one of undying devotion to a dream.

I suppose one of the reasons I love this film so much is because the actual story is so worth telling. Wiseau’s personality is so worth marveling at. But the great accomplishment of James Franco and (most of) the cast and crew of The Disaster Artist is its portrayal in such an admiring way.

It’s hilarious; it’s inspirational; and it’s going in my top ten for the year.

Rating: 8.7/10

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