‘Disaster Artist’ a must watch

Do you like bad movies? Of course not, who does? Given the choice, any sane person would choose to watch a good movie. But have you ever seen a good movie that’s about a bad movie?

The Disaster Artist follows the true story of the making of the movie The Room, which was created by Greg Sestero, portrayed by Dave Franco, and the very mysterious and eccentric Tommy Wiseau, portrayed by James Franco.

Sestero meets Wiseau in an acting class and is fascinated with his fearlessness on stage. He seeks Wiseau’s guidance and eventually the two move to Los Angeles to pursue their dreams of becoming Hollywood stars. After multiple rejections the two decide to make their own film, The Room, a film often referred to as “the Citizen Kane of bad movies.”

Throughout the production of their film it becomes increasingly apparent that Wiseau is not the kind of person Sestero originally thought he was. What Sestero once mistook for a courageous demeanor turns out to be nothing more than incredible stupidity, something that is easy to pick up on early in the movie. Wiseau stresses the importance of realness and transparency to Sestero throughout the production of their film, yet constantly fails to practice what he preaches. He never admits where he is from, how old he is, or where he acquired the fortune in his seemingly bottomless bank account. Despite sporting a thick European accent, Wiseau claims to be from America, and despite being obviously much older than Sestero, he claims to be the same age as him.

By the time production has been wrapped up, it is clear to Sestero that the idiotic, reckless, and downright questionable decisions Wiseau has made over the past several months will undoubtedly ensure the failure of The Room. At one point, Wiseau claims to have spent six million dollars making the movie, yet it only made $1,800 on its opening weekend.

Since its initial failure, the movie has gained a cult following and allegedly reels in about one million dollars per year. I watched The Room as a frame of reference and let’s just say, it is so bad, it’s good…in a hysterical, unintentional kind of way.

James nailed his portrayal of Wiseau. In my opinion, the mark of a great performance is when you stop thinking about the character as the actor playing a role and see them as the character they are supposed to be. Several times throughout the film I couldn’t help but ask myself, “What the hell is wrong with this guy?”

At the end of the film, several scenes from The Room are played alongside the renditions of The Disaster Artist and the similarity is uncanny, leaving little reason to doubt the accuracy of this true story. The Disaster Artist may get heavy at times, but believe me when I say it is nothing short of hilarious and is definitely worth the watch.

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