Leave it to the brothers Franco for a piece of meta filmmaking for the millennial generation. A somewhat bemusing homage to the 2003, so bad it’s good hit The Room, The Disaster Artist features James Franco in an eerily lookalike role that made Tommy Wiseau a midnight cult cinema classic.
Wiseau’s original film featured both lackluster performances and writing that made it an unintentional comedy, sparking an obsession for tongue in cheek viewers everywhere. Yet for The Disaster Artist the elder Franco pairs with younger brother Dave, who portrays Wiseau’s co-star in The Room, Greg Sestero, for a hilariously intentional film. Through the portrayal of Wiseau and Sestero’s relationship, helped on by the natural camaraderie of the two Francos, the audience catches a glimpse of the trials and tribulations on their quest for Hollywood stardom and recognition. Sestero even took a writing credit on The Disaster Artist for his insight into the duo’s hijinks.
The laughs don’t stop there, as along for the ride, the Francos clearly convinced a number of Tinseltown heavyweights to join the cast of this sardonic biopic. Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Melanie Griffith, Sharon Stone, and Alison Brie all share the bill, including a cameo from Wiseau himself. So perhaps the pipe dream and pitfalls of The Room weren’t all in vain, as Wiseau and Sestero can now enjoy the notoriety in jest that they so desperately hoped for, yet failed to achieve literally.