REVIEW: "The Disaster Artist" or, the Strangely-Interesting Influence of Tommy Wiseau (Or Is It Interestingly Strange?)

As any cinephile or moviegoer can tell you, the filmgoing experience takes many forms. For one, there are hundreds of "great" movies we'll keep watching every year (from The Wizard of Oz to Casablanca), while there are thousands beyond thousands of "bad" movies we'll never see again (Battlefield Earth, anybody?). What's ironic is how certain pieces of art that were initially perceived as "bad" have, in time, become celebrated. "Midnight" showings, in particular, have developed a cult status over the course of the last half-century, with such titles as The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982), and Donnie Darko (2001). The Room (no, not the great 2015 film with Brie Larson) is another such movie.

Released in 2003, The Room starred, was written, directed, produced, and self-financed (a reported $6 million budget) by the enigmatic and eccentric Tommy Wiseau, a long-haired, sunglasses-wearing, vampiric figure with an accent that sounds European and a mysterious bank account. There are, in fact, three mysteries about Tommy Wiseau: how old he is, where he's from, and where he gets his money. (For the record, he claims he's from New Orleans.) The plot itself involves romance, betrayal, and James Dean references. In 2013, Greg Sestero (one of the film's co-stars, and friend to Wiseau) wrote a book called "The Disaster Artist" about the making of what is now considered "the greatest bad movie ever made," and how it has developed a cult-following. For one thing, midnight screenings of the film have theater attendees wearing tuxes, carrying footballs, quoting infamous lines ("You're tearing me apart, Lisa!") and, oddly enough, throwing spoons at the screen.

Actor James Franco first read the book about four years ago, and quickly became a Room-devotee. And with help from his brother, Dave Franco, friend Seth Rogen, and various famous faces, he's directed and starred in an impeccable and respectful film adaptation of The Disaster Artist. (The real Tommy claimed that 40-percent of the book is accurate, whereas he ironically gave the film a 99.9-percent approval rating.)

The film is set between 1998, when Tommy and Greg (then a shy and struggling actor) meet, and 2003, during the film's initial release. Both share a desire to become famous in Hollywood. The latter is inspired by Tommy's fearlessness, despite his odd quirks ("You really gotta go . . . express yourself," says Tommy), while Tommy gives Greg more than enough resources and opportunities that he can. But for Tommy, the opportunities become slim to none. A producer candidly tells him, "Just because you want something doesn't mean you get it," and then claims no opportunities will ever come for Tommy. Many don't take him as a "hero" character, but rather as a villain or the like. Then, he and Greg come up with the idea to just make their own movie. And the rest becomes history.

Franco is phenomenal and fully committed as Tommy in all his strange mannerisms, his voice, and his questionable motives and emotions. (He was reportedly in character, full prosthetics and makeup, while directing the movie.) Besides being the first film he's acted in with his brother, he does a terrific job directing equally-committed performances from Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Ari Graynor, Paul Scheer, and cameos from Melanie Griffith, Judd Apatow, Zac Efron, Megan Mullulay, Jacki Weaver, Bryan Cranston, and even the real Wiseau in a brief cameo. (Celebrity fans of the actual Room film, including Kristen Bell, Ike Barinholtz and Adam Scott, also make appearances.)

From earlier trailers, viewers wondered if this was going to be a parody of the real people, but it turns out to be the opposite. As mentioned earlier, James treats Wiseau's character with respect, as does Dave in portraying the friendship between Tommy and Greg. The recreation of scenes from the film, along with production and costume design of the sets and the LA billboard, is nearly spot-on. (The end credits include side-by-side comparisons.)

The brothers Franco, Dave and James

On one hand, this is a story of characters with misguided sensibilities. True, there is the pursuit of the American dream, persevering through adversity, and taking "No" for an answer. It's just that the central character does it in the wrong way. Besides comparing himself to James Dean, Tommy also uses the controversial on-set antics of directors Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick as excuses for his own growing tension, unsympathetic for how it's effecting everybody involved, including the brief relationship that Greg has with his girlfriend at the time. This toll especially effects Greg, who gradually feels he has no social life.

Despite its R-rated content choices in and out of the film-within-the-film (Is it really necessary to be nude on a film set, or to cheer an on-screen character to shoot himself in the mouth?), The Disaster Artist also stands as a story of how we ironically view the media, and tries to understand what makes a movie "good" or more specifically "bad." This is a story about people, no matter how normal or strange they may be.

In Tommy's words, "I tried to open my heart, open my soul." In all fairness, The Room continues to get mixed reactions, from laughs to boos to cheers. "How often you think Hitchcock got a response like that," Greg asks Tommy. An interesting scene has one of the cast members asking, "What's this movie [The Room] about?" Another theorizes that it's an autobiography of Tommy's life. Before the premiere screening, Tommy does, in fact, state, "This my movie. This my life." Oscar Wilde was right when he said how art imitates life just as life imitates art. Now that's ironic.