Harry Situation Reviews: The Disaster Artist

“You’re tearing me apart, Lisa!”

“You’re just a chicken. Cheap, cheap, cheap!”

“Everybody betray me! I’m fed up with this world!”

“I did not hit her. It’s not true. It’s bullshit. I did not hit her. I DID NOOOOT.”

“Oh hi Mark.”

These are just a few quotes from the epically hilarious and disaster that was Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. Dubbed as the Citizen Kane of bad movies The Room is definitely one of those movies you have to see to believe. It is unbelievably bad—with it’s terrible acting, poor directing, and autrocious writing. It’s so bad that it is just a blast to watch.

The reason why I bring this up is because this is the premise behind probably the best film I’ve seen all year, The Disaster Artist. For those unfamiliar with the story behind The Room, there’s a man named Tommy Wiseau who went and wrote and directed his own Hollywood movie. It also depicts the friendship between him and Greg Sestero, or the guy best remembered as Mark from The Room (Oh hi Mark!). And it shows the troubles of making this movie and what happened to them after the success of this movie.

James Franco directs and stars as Tommy Wiseau with his brother Dave Franco, who plays Greg Sestero. We also have Seth Rogen, Josh Hutchinson, Zac Efron, and a ton of other people all coming together to show the story behind one of the worst movies ever made.

My first experience with The Room came from a review by Nostalgia Critic, to which I garner as one of his best episodes he’s ever done. After watching the video I know I had to find this movie and watch this for myself. Oh my god, was I in for an experience of the lifetime. And you will be too when you see this movie.

First off, James Franco was outstanding as Tommy Wiseau. He got everything about him right. His odd accent, his mannerisms, he fact that he never talks about himself, and his passion for making this movie. Dave Franco was great as Tommy’s best friend Greg. He may not sound like him but that doesn’t matter. It’s his performance that matters. These two played off each other extremely well.

I also appreciate how well they recreated the set of The Room as well as recreating the exact, memorable scenes in the movie too. Before the end credits start they actually showed a side-by-side showing of both the actual film and the reenacted shots. If you’ve seen The Room you already know which scenes I’m talking about.

But here’s the most important factor to take in when watching The Disaster Artist. Despite what you may have seen or heard about Tommy Wiseau, he is still a person. Throughout the movie we see Tommy being disrespectful towards his crew, and we see him bicker with his friends, but the film is smart enough not to vilify. That’s where I think the film succeeds the most. It really brings out the best and the worst in Tommy Wiseau, but the overall message is that he’s only human after all.

The other thing I think the movie does best at was its story. Basically it’s about a man with a dream, whether it was going to be a grand dream or a pipe dream it was still a dream. We all have dreams. Most of us here dream to be successful writers. I dream of becoming a paleontologist and someday be an accomplished writer too. The problem is sometimes we don’t have the confidence to follow that dream. I too don’t feel confident in my abilities. I often doubt what I’m capable and don’t try anything because I’m afraid of rejection and failure. Unfortunately that has developed into the kind of character that I am.

Let me just be honest right here. We are all going to fail. We have encountered many failures in our lives and yet we keep moving forward. Why? Because failure is the best teacher. It’s what you do with that failure is what matters. It’s because of my failures that I’ve been in college for seven years. There were many times where I’ve failure so many times and became so depressed that I wanted an escape. But I still kept going because I’m so close to graduation now. I only have one more core course to go and then I’m done. Where I go from there is up to me. Just like it is up to you.

Take a look at Tommy Wiseau. I don’t believe that I’m giving any spoilers away when I tell you what happened during the premiere of his movie. The movie wasn’t a hit. People laughed at it, and Tommy Wiseau was initially heartbroken from their reaction. This wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for. But he used that to his advantage. He stated that the film was actually a comedy, and the film later gained a huge cult status as one of the most beloved bad movies of all time. People all over the world lined up to see screenings of this. That is how you turn failure into success.

The only negative I can think of—and it really is just a small nitpick—we never get to see much of the other cast members, the actors playing the actors of The Room, get to see their thoughts during production. We have actors like Josh Hutchinson and Zac Efron but they don’t have a lot to do in the movie. Maybe because the real people didn’t have much to do in the real movie but I don’t know. That’s my only nitpick of this film.

Overall The Disaster Artist is definitely not a disaster. Hell even the The Room itself isn’t a complete disaster. There is so much fun to be had with both movies. If you haven’t checked out The Room yet, I highly recommend you do so. You won’t believe your eyes. Afterward definitely check out The Disaster Artist. This has hands down become my favorite movie of the year.

Positives:

-Franco as director & Wiseau

-Franco as Greg

-Fantastic drama

-Recreated scenes from The Room

-Shows Wiseau as a person

-Excellent story & message

Negatives:

-Not much known about other stars

Final Grade: A+

On a side note I couldn’t help but chuckle when James Franco’s Tommy Wiseau called Dave Franco’s Greg Sestero the next James Dean. It’s funny because in real life James Franco actually played James Dean in a T.V. movie about his life. And if you didn’t know The Room does pay homage to James Dean’s performance in Rebel Without a Cause. It’s the memorable scene where Tommy screams, “You’re tearing me apart, Lisa!”

So that’s my overall thoughts of The Disaster Artist. Have you seen it? What were your thoughts? Have you seen The Room too? What were your thoughts on that? And what’s your favorite moment from The Room? Please be kind, leave a like and comment, and check back here for more disaster reviews on Prose!

Best Quote:

Tommy Wiseau: “I did not hit her. It’s not true. It’s bullshit. I did not hit her. I DID NOOOOT. Oh hi Mark.”

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