The Disaster Artist - a story about the ‘greatest unintentional comedian’ and his cult hit
/Greg Sestero doesn’t mince his words when he talks about The Room.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be good before it was made.”
The Disaster Artist takes us into the world of Tommy Wiseau and what it was like on the set of his magnum opus drama-turned-comedy.
We’re seeing this movie about a book about the production of a movie at an advance screening put on by Cinema Nova in Carlton, a theatre that shows Wiseau’s cult classic to loyal fans every month.
Before the movie plays we’re treated to a Q&A with Greg Sestero, co-star of The Room and author of The Disaster Artist. He gives a new dimension to the the movie answering a raft of questions that range from the humdrum to the downright bizarre.
“Meeting Tommy the way I did ... for whatever fucked up reason, it’s fate,” he says in response to questions about whether he would change things in hindsight.
He refers to Tommy as the “greatest unintentional comedian,” after attempting to make a hard hitting drama and somehow creating a cult comedy classic in the process.
When questions are opened up to the audience, people ask Sestero everything from Wiseau’s ancestry and whether not he is a vampire, to his hygiene habits. Apparently Tommy “smelt pretty bad there for a while, it was pretty rough, but he’s got great hygiene.”
The movie itself opens with two down on their luck guys wanting to make it in showbiz.
James Franco plays Tommy Wiseau, the titular Disaster Artist. He nails the performance, right down to the iconic ‘New Orleans’ accent, sounding like a guy walking around with a mouth full of novacaine. His character is borderline surreal - Sestero explains in the Q&A that some test screenings couldn’t believe this guy is a real person.
The biggest liability in making this comedy is Tommy himself, whose blessing was bestowed on Greg on one condition - a 40 second cameo beside James Franco - never mind they’re the same character.
While making The Disaster Artist, they recreated 25 minutes of The Room in painstaking detail. While a number of these scenes are in the film, not all of them made the cut. But all is not lost - they will be found in the DVD release.
The film pays tribute to - but never explains - The Room’s murky financing. It’s budget is estimated at $6 million, the origins of which have baffled fans for more than a decade.
Overall this film is a fun look at how one of the most bizarre films in Hollywood was made. It captures the essence of the mysterious Tommy Wiseau, who approves of this film “ninety-nine point nine per cent,” and does a stellar job in his cameo.
The Disaster Artist opens at Cinema Nova November 30. Special Screenings of The Room are on every month.