'The Disaster Artist' owes a lot to 'The Room' and Tommy Wiseau

L

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I believe that to produce a good work needs 3 elements: resources, passion, and talent. Like the Fire Triangle, it won't work when there is only one element that is lacking. The Room film, written, directed and starring Tommy Wiseau is what happened when he didn't have the last element. I'm not exaggerating, because the reality is that. The Room was asked as one of the worst films of all time. So much so, until now the screening of the film is still routinely held by fans, often attended by Wiseau.

The "worst" prediction question, a movie won't be a legend if it's just bad. There is a bad movie about migraine anglers and there are also movies that are so bad that they are entertaining. I'm sure people continue to talk about it even after 15 years, not because of Wiseau's only incompetence but because of his passionate attitude towards the film. Wiseau believes that he made the best film. That energy is contagious, mz.

Enough about The Room; This is the review of The Disaster Artist. The Disaster Artist is a comedy approach that tells about how The Room can exist. The film runs on a thin line between banter and appreciation. How else do you try to make a movie about it if it's not through comedy. Even serious films must be hilarious when we see the behind-the-scenes chaos that occurred during the shooting of The Room and the absurdity of Wiseau's personality.

When he appeared to show his acting skills in front of the theater class, Tommy (James Franco) enthusiastically shouted "STELLA! STELLA! AAKK!" as if being possessed. There are no normal humans who consider this to be real acting. But Greg Sestero (Dave Franco, James's younger brother) was poisoned by Tommy's enthusiasm, because he didn't have that much pride. Even in a restaurant, Tommy is not shy about challenging Greg to bring a drama drama as loud as possible as if he were a demo orator 212.

Share the same dream to become a Hollywood star like James Dean, both departing for the city of Los Angeles. With a handsome capital, Greg managed to get an agent even though it was not the case with work. Plus, Greg got a girlfriend named Amber (Alison Brie). Another story with Tommy who was ill-fated. He was rebuffed when approaching a producer.

If Hollywood isn't ready to accept us, what if we make a film of our own? That's about Greg's suggestion. Well, what's interesting is that Tommy has resources. The money is so abundant, that he wants to buy a camera instead of renting it like most directors, building his own set instead of using property in the real world, and recruiting anyone who wants to join the project, a script that we later know as "The Room" Tommy claimed to be the greatest caliber drama by Tenessee Williams.

Tommy is a mysterious figure and this film doesn't try to solve it. At the end of the film, we still won't know where the source of wealth is, where is his home (Tommy says New Orleans but his accent suggests that he might come from Dracula castle), or how old he really is (he claims to be 20 years old but his face doesn't say that). The film, written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber directly from Greg Sestero's memoir, still treats it as an enigma, as most fans see genuine Wiseau.

The film takes a simple approach, focusing more on the events that occur behind the production of The Room. The more targeted part of Wiseau's insight is simplified by the conflict of how Greg continued to support Tommy even though he realized that Tommy clearly did not know what he was doing or how Tommy was always grumbling every time Greg took his girlfriend. Nobody understands Tommy, even Greg.

The film was directed by James Franco, but obviously he was more established as an actor than as a director here. With long hair and make-up help, Franco really looked and sounded like Wiseau, including his odd accent and strange laugh. We can feel how painstaking Franco studied his original character. But he did not just make fun of, but also captured his enthusiasm and vulnerability. Tommy's face and gaze were indeed asking for pity.

The Room production process turned out to be really chaotic and this is the part where The Disaster Artist is really funny. Madness on set was of course sourced from Tommy, while the crew, of whom played by Seth Rogen, Jacki Weaver, Josh Hutcherson, Zac Efron, et al, realized from the start that the situation would get worse. Franco made a replay while giving a background that not many people knew about some key scenes from The Room (yeah, for example, why did Tommy hold a bottle of mineral water when the scene "Oh, hi Mark"). To show off how detailed the results of his work, at the end of the film Franco re-insert the iconic scene placed next to the original scene.

I think The Disaster Artist owes a lot to The Room and Wiseau. This film won't be funny if the source is no more funny. Watching The Room will make you appreciate The Disaster Artist, and vice versa. But I can't say that this film is a tribute to Wiseau and The Room. The film closes with an ending that positions the creator and his creation as objects that make the audience laugh out loud. What are they laughing at? The ridicule of the film or the silliness of someone who is so passionate creates something even without talent?