Written by: Nathan Kernell, Staff Writer
The Disaster Artist, a New Line Cinema release starring brothers James and Dave Franco and Seth Rogan, hit the theaters in December of 2017. The film, both directed and produced by lead actor James Franco, was based upon a nonfiction book of the same name written by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell from 2013. The movie chronicles the true story of friendship among two aspiring actors, Greg Sestero (James Franco) and Tommy Wiseau (Dave Franco), and their making of The Room, often cited as the “best-worst movie ever.”
The two meet following an acting class where Sestero admires Wiseau’s fearlessness when up on stage and wishes to work with him. A close friendship soon follows and a pact is made on the basis that they will never forget their dream and will push each other to achieve it.
Not long after, Wiseau suggests moving to Los Angeles to pursue the acting careers both so much desire. Upon arrival in the California metropolis, Sestero receives minor success, while Wiseau faces rejection from casting directors and failed auditions. Both foster the same frustrations with their failures and hatch the idea to make their own movie; one that casts the two acting hopefuls and is directed by Wiseau. The Room, a drama about a love triangle between a banker, his fiancee and best friend, begins production following Wiseau’s lengthy screenwriting process.
The movie portrays what Tommy Wiseau stated as a “99.9% accurate” production and filming process. They did experience peaks and valleys throughout the filming process, including mistreatment and negligence of actors and producers, but The Disaster Artist provides an in-depth look into the materialization of the bestfriends’ dream come true and follows post-production to show to audiences the initial reception of the film.
Both Franco performances are spot-on in their depictions of the two characters. James does well in showing the young, ambitious attitude of the 19 year old Sestero. The masterpiece of the film, however, is Dave’s depiction of the peculiar Tommy Wiseau. Very little is known of Wiseau, both in the movie and in real life, including where he obtains the nearly $6 million to fully fund the film or where his strange accent originates, but Dave masters the unknown accent and does a masterful job in giving the audience a sense of peculiarity that comes with Wiseau. Seth Rogan, who plays alongside the brothers as script supervisor Sandy Schklair, shows a strong performance as well and makes the most of the part without drawing attention from the two lead roles. Overall, acting in the film was extremely solid and better actors in the duo of James and Dave Franco could not have been cast.
The plot captivates. At times, the movie can seem hard to follow, with some details being easily missed, but this takes little away from the picture and portrayal as a whole. The similarities of the real life story and the film are qualities that make the movie that much more appealing. From details about a lone billboard advertising for the film to individual scenes being shot, numerous parallels between reality and hollywood picture are present, making the film an excellent, accurate account of what happened for Greg Sestero and Tommy Wiseau in Los Angeles in 1998.
Nathan Kernell is a freshman majoring in Communications with a focus in Digital Media. He enjoys playing on the baseball team and also playing guitar. Nathan has always enjoyed writing so it only seemed fitting to pursue that path in college. He can often be found making the short trip over to Chattanooga any time he has a free day, or playing guitar in his dorm. You can contact Nathan at nkernell6869@bryan.edu.
