Based on the 2013 non-fiction book of the same name, The Disaster Artist is a visual retelling of the cult-flop film The Room, released by two ambitious filmmakers in 2003.
The film shows the two filmmakers in their earliest days; Greg Sestero as a young adult attempting to break into the world of acting, but failing due to his constantly nervous state when put on the spot, despite being relatively decent at acting. And the infamous Tommy Wiseau, who is ambitious but downright terrible at acting.
We see how their friendship grew, and how Wiseau managed to influence Sestero to continue perusing his dreams in Los Angeles, but became awfully strange and jealous of any successes Sestero was managing to obtain without him, whether it be relationships or a spark towards an acting career.
While the film often displays Wiseau's lack of talent as comedy, it's particularly difficult for that comedy to connect given the additional backstory we see into Wiseau's incredibly uncomfortable levels of secretiveness regarding his age, and origin of birth. We see his manipulative ways take control of another person's potential to succeed as a result of his own selfishness and failures.
That said, there are elements that are rather enjoyable, detailing the sheer stresses of working alongside Wiseau for the shooting of The Room, and how both he and others acted on set; seeing how heated things could get, it's a surprise that the film was successfully made in the first place. These moments are often displayed as comedy, being self-aware of the complete ridiculousness of particular events, such as building an entire set of an alleyway instead of just filming in an alleyway.
The Disaster Artist tries to end itself with this ambitious belief that The Room was a success; and how even though it was laughed at and hated, the fact that the two followed through with their dreams and made a film should be celebrated. It's hard to follow that after seeing just how awful of a person Wiseau was to the crew, and how he was a result of many lost opportunities for many during the production.
Narrative issues aside, the performances are excellent, incredibly well done and believable; James Franco's performance alone shows hours upon hours of research and refining the uncanny nature of Wiseau to the point where it's close to identical in comparison. The accuracy alone makes The Disaster Artist a fun viewing experience.
