THE DISASTER ARTIST (James Franco). 104 minutes. Opens Friday (December 1). see listing. Rating: NNNN
The Disaster Artist positively revels in the risible artistic decisions of The Room’s writer/director/producer/star, Tommy Wiseau, and lets director/producer/star Franco indulge himself marvellously as the paranoid filmmaker.
But it does so while remaining clear-eyed about the work that goes into even a terrible film, while revealing the camaraderie of Wiseau’s co-stars and crew, all of whom effectively became his hostages over the course of the production.
Franco packs the cast with friends and family – his brother Dave plays co-star Greg Sestero (from whose memoir this film was adapted) Dave’s wife, Alison Brie, plays Sestero’s girlfriend Amber buddy Seth Rogen (also a producer) is Wiseau’s script supervisor, and so on. The whole picture feels like a party.
Whether or not you actually like The Room is irrelevant The Disaster Artist is its own giddy thing, and you don’t have to force yourself to laugh.