K.T Simpson
Just as life imitates art, art sometimes imitates life. “The Disaster Artist” might be based on a disaster of a movie, but ultimately is the opposite of a disaster … and probably bringing life back into the original disaster, which has been struggling for breath since ’94. Following so far?
The movie is quite “Inception-esque” in that actors play actors in a film about making a film, and about the film they’re making, which sounds confusing, but ultimately works – and with hilarious results.
James Franco takes on the role of Tommy Wiseau, and much like the person he’s playing he also takes on the directing and producing of the film. By no easy task to manage 3 key roles, but Franco succeeds. And I’m sure he managed to deliver the lines in the film in fewer than 50-something takes. “I did not hit her. I did not. It’s not true. It’s bullshit. I did not hit her, I did not. Oh, hi Mark”. James’ brother Dave plays Greg Sestero, Wiseau’s co-star, friend and roommate, who moves to LA with Wiseau to chase the Hollywood dream. “The Disaster Artist” is a good look at how their friendship stems from being in the same acting class, to delivering their first big movie at a Hollywood premiere.
The Franco brothers work very well together, and the outcome is a hilarious film with some A-class acting, and quite-frankly, a really heart-warming tale. “The Room” is a shocking film, but “The Disaster Artists” portrays Wiseau as a human-being who actually cares about his art, despite probably chasing the wrong career path. J.Franco’s Wiseau is so accurate, I actually wish he were the real Wiseau. It’s easy to look at it and cringe, thinking about how Franco is almost making fun of him, but I’d be thanking him if I were Wiseau – he’s been thrust back into the spotlight and his film “The Room” is a cult-classic, no doubt making more money now than most Indies. Plus, I saw him at the LA premiere and the dude was not short of selfie requests.
Supporting cast of “The Disaster Artist” includes the usual faces – Seth Rogan, Alison Brie, Jason Mantzoukas, and Josh Hutcherson, among a slew of famous faces that give performances that gave our audience a belly laugh and a half. Nathan Fielder was my favourite cameo, keep an eye out for him.
Given the hot press that “The Disaster Artist” has been receiving, it’s no surprise that this one is one of the gems of 2017. Franco has created an absolutely hilarious and heart-warming film that is definitely one of his finest pieces of work.
