Based off the memoir by The Room's co-star Greg Sestero, The Disaster Artist actually isn't primarily about the making of the "Best Worst Movie Ever." If it were, it would be little more than a re-staging of a car accident for people to come rubberneck at. It's actually an examination of the friendship between Sestero and The Room's enigmatic auteur, Tommy Wiseau. How strong must that bond have been for them to see such a train wreck through to the end, or not recognize it for what it was at the time? (Small spoiler: the movie makes clear it's more the former than the latter.)
Because the movie has this relationship as its emotional core, it's more than a mockumentary, and more than a character study of Wiseau. It certainly paints a compelling picture of how Sestero was drawn into the orbit of "Tommy's Planet," and just as compellingly demonstrates what kept them together so long. I'm not entirely sure that it makes me understand what kept them together all the way through to the end, but it's still an accomplishment that the movie makes such sympathetic figures out of people that anyone who has seen The Room might otherwise react to quite differently.
The brothers Franco star in the piece, Dave as Greg Sestero and James as Tommy Wiseau. Both are fully committed to telling a story of struggling to make a mark in Hollywood, never winking at the camera or mocking the material. For Dave Franco, this certainly makes for the most earnest and accessible character I've seen him play (though admittedly, I haven't seen lots of him). Because the character of Wiseau is so impenetrable, it's up to Dave Franco to be the emotional window into the narrative, and he serves ably in this.
But of course, the focus will all be on the meta-performance of James Franco as Wiseau. It's a spot-on impersonation that transcends simple impersonation. On some deep level, the audience is meant to know, James Franco is Tommy Wiseau -- an actor who sometimes makes confounding choices, and who on this occasion decided to act in, direct, and produce his own movie. But it never seems like an impersonation. Hell, there are times where I found myself truly forgetting it was James Franco; I'd just recently re-watched The Room as "prep" for this, and it just seemed like in The Disaster Artist, I was watching Wiseau.
The Room has a lot of celebrity fans, many of whom helped push it into the zeitgeist to begin with, so the movie is full of recognizable faces. A few have somewhat substantial parts, including Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Josh Hutcherson, Ari Graynor, Jackie Weaver, and Paul Scheer. Many more show up for cameos, including Megan Mullally, Hannibal Buress, Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith, Zac Efron, Bob Odenkirk, Judd Apatow, and more. Still other "boosters" of The Room appear right at the start of the film as themselves, in talking head interviews, explaining their obsession: Kristen Bell, Keegan-Michael Key, J.J. Abrams, Kevin Smith, and more. There's a deep bench on this movie, and everyone is there to contribute their own bit of fun to the whole.
All that said, I think any murmurs you may have heard about the "movie about the bad movie being Oscar worthy" are overselling it a tad. It's good, no question. It's even insightful while it entertains. But I personally didn't find in it that extra jolt that makes me certain it will stick with me for a long while to come. It's definitely worth seeing, especially if you've seen The Room, but I think I'd limit it to about a B+.
And if you do go, be sure to stay all the way through the credits for a great scene at the end.
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