Butler's Cinema Scene

James Franco as Tommy Wiseau

“THE DISASTER ARTIST”  My rating: B+ 

103 minutes | MPAA rating: R

2003’s “The Room” has been widely heralded as one of the worst films ever made, a screen-splattered mess of bad writing, clumsy direction, incompetent acting and grandiose (and totally unfulfilled) ambitions.

All true. But here’s the thing: “The Room” is also wildly entertaining, an  extravaganza of unintentional comedy. Which is why over the last decade it has become a cult favorite, beloved by midnight audiences who know every inane line by heart.

“The Disaster Artist” is director/star James Franco’s retelling of how “The Room” came to be made, and unlike its source material, this film is intentionally hilarious.

Wha we’ve got here is a comic masterpiece inspired by a dramatic monstrosity.

“The Disaster Artist” is based on actor Greg Sistero’s memoir of making the film with friend and all-around bizarre human being Tommy Wiseau.

The two meet in a San Francisco acting class where Wiseau (James Franco) — a droopy eyed, long-haired wraith with an elusive slavic accent, a malapropism-heavy grasp of English and a borderline creepy personality — stuns his fellow students with a rendition of Marlon Brando’s “Stella!” scene from “A Streetcar Named Desire” that ends with him doing a passable imitation of a grand mal seizure.

Sistero (James Franco), whose desire to be an actor is undercut by his unassertive personality, is fascinated by Wiseau, a guy who marches to his own out-of-sync drumbeat — for example, doing high-volume scene readings over breakfast in a crowded restaurant. A sort of sensei/grasshopper relationship develops, and Wiseau invited Sistero to move with him to L.A. where he has an apartment he rarely uses.

(In fact, Wiseau has apartments in several cities and a seemingly inexhaustible checking account. The source of his wealth remains a mystery, as does his age, nationality and personal history. Did he strike a Faustian deal with the devil? Did he materialize on Earth fully formed?)

Neither man has any discernible acting talent, and after weeks of futile auditioning Wiseau decides to go pro-active. He’ll write a script for a movie that he will direct and finance. He and Sistero will star in it.

They hire real professionals (Seth Rogen, Paul Scher) for their crew and desperate actors (Ari Graynor, Jacki Weaver, Zac Efron, Josh Hutchinson) for their cast and get to work.

Seth Rogan, Dave Franco, Paul Scher

“The Disaster Artist” observes its subject mostly through Sistero’s eyes, and it may be Dave Franco’s best performance. Part desperate wannabe, part loyal friend and, ultimately, disillusioned disciple, Sistero actually grows confidant under Wiseau’s tutelage, picking up a girlfriend and even landing a role in a “real” Hollywood production.

But the film’s wacko center is James Franco’s Tommy Wiseau, a tribute to hope in the face of crushing reality. Wiseau is deluded enough to think he’s really making an immortal cinematic statement, and he’s distraught when at the premiere the audience responds with moans, tittering and, finally, gleeful laughter. But he’s a scrambler, and the moment passes.

In the film, as in real life, Tommy Wiseau gets the last laugh.

It isn’t necessary to have seen “The Room” to enjoy “The Disaster Artist,” but it sure helps. Especially since Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber’s screenplay dwells so lovingly on how some of those god-awful movie moments were captured.  There’s a sublimely mad sequence in which Wiseau requires something like 60 takes to walk into a shot and say a couple of lines.

As the weary assistant director (Rogan) observes, “The best thing I can say about this is nobody will ever see it.”

By the way, an explanation of “The Room’s” plot is in order.  It centers on Johnny, a wildly successful San Francisco banker (Wiseau, looking less banker than vampire) who comes to believe his fiancé Lisa is cheating on him with his best friend (Sistero). Those who worked with Wiseau on the film believe the story was based on a personal trauma experienced by the writer/director, but the ever-secretive Wiseau has never elaborated.

Franco has striven for authenticity here, carefully recreating the original movie’s plywood-looking sets and odd costuming;  under the closing credits scenes from “The Room” run side by side with their counterparts from “The Disaster Artist.”

Plus, the film has a supporting cast to kill for — keep an eye peeled for Alison Brie, Megan Mullally, Sharon Stone, Judd Apatow, Melanie Griffith, Bryan Cranston, Bob Odenkirk and others who pop up in cameos.  Plus we get a small avalanche of talking-head celebrities (Kevin Smith, Keegan-Michael Key, Adam Scott, Kristen Bell, Danny McBride, Lizzy Caplan, Jerrod Carmichael) who testify to their obsession with “The Room” and the Wiseau legend.

| Robert W. Butler