The Disaster Artist (2017)

The Room, an independently made film from 2003 written, produced, directed and staring the enigma that is Tommy Wiseau is widely regarded as one of the worst movies ever made. The Disaster Artist, a film based on a book of the same name by Tom Bissell and The Room co-star Greg Sestero, and produced, directed and staring James Franco, well that's a pretty good movie. Giving its subject matter the Ed Wood treatment The Disaster Artist is a good spirited look at what it is to make a bad movie, and that sometimes even a horrible film can be kind of a good thing. The movie is just loaded with celebrity bit parts, many playing themselves such as Bryan Cranston and Judd Apatow. Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas, and June Diane Raphael, actors who co-host a podcast about bad movies call How Did This Get Made all have roles in the film. James Franco in his role as Wiseau gives a performance that works both as caricature and portraiture. This begs the question, can one do an Oscar worthy performance of a Razzie worthy performance? Dave Franco plays Wiseau's friend and co-star Greg Sestero. Wiseau himself, a man about whom shocking little biographical information is known even now, has a brief appearance in a post credit scene which may be worth staying for if your curious. A funny and surprisingly warm movie which is already getting awards buzz. ***1/2