The Disaster Artist is a complicated film to describe. A movie about the making of the movie, it’s a behind-the-scenes look at “so-bad-it’s-good” cult classic The Room.
Written, produced and directed by the enigmatic Tommy Wiseau — who also stars — The Room is a drama about the tragic love triangle that develops between a banker (played by Wiseau), his fiancé, and his best friend. The film is not good, with the acting, script and direction laughably bad.
In spite of those shortcomings, The Room‘s popularity has grown exponentially since first hitting screens in 2005, with packed cinemas across the globe now celebrating its awfulness, often with Tommy in attendance.
James Franco became a fan, and The Disaster Artist is his love letter to the making of the movie. Greg Sestero played the aforementioned best friend in The Room, and Fanco’s film is based on his account of the making of the movie, entitled The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made.
Franco himself plays Tommy, while his brother Dave Franco plays Greg. And the rest of the cast is seriously impressive, featuring Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Josh Hutcherson, Sharon Stone, Bryan Cranston, Kristen Bell, Adam Scott, Alison Brie, Zach Braff, J.J. Abrams, Judd Apatow and Melanie Griffith.
The film received rave reviews at SXSW and the Toronto Film Festival, while it has also inexplicably becoming part of the Oscar conversation.
The Disaster Artist hits U.S. screens on December 1.