The Disaster Artist

“To this day no one knows where Tommy is from, or how he made his money, or how old he is”

Suffice it to say Tommy Wiseau is an outlandish, enigmatic character. The Room by Tommy Wiseau is what one critic called “The Citizen Kane of the worst movies.” If you haven’t seen it, you’ve probably seen clips of it on YouTube. Or heard someone say “Oh Hi Mark” in a monotone voice. This movie, which cost 6 million to make, and only took in $1800 at the box office, is truly awful. In fact it’s so bad that it’s enjoyable. It’s delightfully bad. 

The Disaster Artist is the perfect name for this film. It’s based on the memoir of Greg Sestero who played Mark in the Room. It’s an eye opening account of what life was like on set and what a bizarre character Tommy Wiseau is in front of and behind the camera (think Michael Scott with a weird accent and long hair). 

I really enjoyed this movie. Both Franco brothers nail their performance. James Franco does an impeccable job portraying the real Tommy Wiseau. So much so that when Tommy watched the movie he approved of 99.99 percent of it (he only commented how the lighting was off). 

The theme of the movie is pursuing your dreams no matter what. We all have dreams and we want more than anything to achieve them, because our aim in life is happiness, and we equate fulfilling our dreams with fulfillment and happiness. But there’s a major problem: : FEAR. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment. So instead of trying and failing, we sit back and don’t attempt anything. Fear holds us back. Did The Room fail? Yes, as a romantic drama it failed miserably. But much to Tommy’s surprise is succeeded as a romantic comedy. So much so that over the long haul, Tommy made all his money back and then some. Failure is good, because failure can ultimately lead to success. So as I always tell myself, “Feel the fear, and go for it!”

3.5/5 Recommend it