The Disaster Artist – 3.5/5 – Movie Reviews by Ry!
The Disaster Artist – 3.5/5 – True stories are a dime a dozen. For all that comes with learning about the past or present, seeing something rehashed can come across as bland and unexpressive to the audience. For all the obvious elements, it is that image of it being real that can grip the audience. The Disaster Artist is based on the true story of how the worst movie in history got made. Through layers of character depth, you have a film that completely revels in the truth through awaken eyes. Even with a lot of clichés and predictable tropes, The Disaster Artist is more than just another true story film, it is a character study that will have you believing in your dream.
Premise: The story behind the making of the worst movie of all time, The Room.
In the lead role of Tommy Wiseau is James Franco. Franco gives a grand impression of an extremely odd person. He gives strong layers of suave, sophistication and intrigue that are common to Wiseau’s personality. This creates a window of expressiveness through a surreal complexion. By capturing the oddities, Franco puts ambiguity to personal depth. From the dialogue, mannerism and interactions with others, you see raw human behavior being complimented through subtle reflection against all Wiseau’s quirks. You see insecurities in his strength, caution in his brass and blind in his focus. The irony levels out his flaws, creating a reactionary concept that is unpredictable. James Franco gives the performance of his life in this role. Opposite him is Dave Franco as his best friend, Greg Sestero. Dave Franco is able to take the straight man archetype off the paper and push it with stark compliment to James Franco’s Tommy Wiseau. As best friends, you watch as their relationship grow on screen. There is an uneasiness in their friendship, showing the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ that comes when they pursue their dreams together. That is important because it creates a double edge sword of ‘wanting’ to be together through the process, but also being aware of the consequences to their actions. This allows Greg to become an inspiration for James Franco’s Wiseau, helping intertwine a ‘motivational’ motif to his persona. You see authenticity to their friendship on the big screen. The rest of the cast, please refer to the film’s IMDb page. They are general characters that emphasizes the true story elements. With each archetype (family, friends, movie crewmates and odd acquaintances), you see on par performances created with one-dimensional characters.
The direction unfolds with a general introduction to the main characters and central plot point. From here, the film moves on a linear path, moving the characters from specific ‘points’ that are important to the true story aspect. The commonality is straight forward with a standard recreation of the actual events that led to the making of The Room. The mimicking behavior provides a ‘behind the scenes’ mantra. Even for some interesting moments, the first half of the film falls flat. What keeps you glued to the screen are the main characters, Tommy and Greg, and how they put everything on the line to make this movie. These two provide the anchor of the story, giving the audience worth to unrealistic odds. Once we get to second act, you see the narrative shift from the basic outline to a genuine focus on relationship, hardship and overall motivations for making The Room. The oddities in their friendship, the obscure motives of cast members and unrelenting dialogue sets the stage for some crazy moments. This allows for that ‘behind the scenes’ mantra to evolve into something with personal conviction. Even as scenes mirror actual scenes from the movie, it is the strong dialogue and endearing character development that keeps everything interesting. This allows for the journey to pull the importance of Greg and Tommy’s dream to the forefront. Showing the struggles, sacrifices and odd reasons behind particular motives creates a real sense of growth. Once we reach the final act, you come to the obvious ‘revelation’ motif. Once the characters realize what they have made, they embrace the wackiness in the climax. As the epilogue rolls, you feel a sense of enjoyment but shock. For all that greatness in the characters, it is the obviousness of it actually happening that makes the journey worthy to be told.
The cinematography is standard visuals. Outside of the characters and the movie sets for The Room, everything is basic entails of Los Angeles. The score is mute at best, not having any application to the film’s enjoyment.
The Disaster Artist has lot of basic elements that are found in telling a true story, but the characters and the actuality to it all did happen keeps you intrigued. James Franco is at his best as Tommy Wiseau, as well as Dave Franco as Greg. If you’re a fan of these guys, true stories or want to see something a little bit different, this is one for you. This is worth seeing at the theaters.