At The Movies: Franco Bros. Make Their Own ‘Disaster’

By Megan Bianco

Making a good movie that successfully manages to stay relevant throughout history is a one-in-a-million chance, but making a bad movie that stays relevant is a one-in-a-billion chance. Eccentric amateur filmmaker Tommy Wiseau somehow miraculously accomplished the latter with his cult feature The Room (2003). The film has been called one of the worst movies ever made—the Citizen Kane of bad movies—and 14 years later, actor, and sometimes filmmaker, James Franco has adapted the production of the film as a biopic penned The Disaster Artist.

In 1998, 19-year-old Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) forms an unlikely friendship with the strange and mysterious Wiseau (James Franco) and the two decide to move to LA to embark on acting careers. As the auditioning goes nowhere, Tommy writes a bizarre movie script he’s called The Room and wants Greg to be his co-lead. Most of the film is shot and edited in 2002 to amusing and nonsensical results.

Seth Rogen and Alison Brie appear as part of the cast of familiar faces. Franco’s feature is being compared frequently to Tim Burton’s own 1994 biopic Ed Wood on the supposed worst director to ever live. Like with Wood, we get some very funny and entertaining sequences on a half-baked movie production, but unlike with the previous film, Disaster Artist might not be as accessible for general audiences. Franco focuses on making his picture as meta as possible, meaning those who have seen the 2003 original or read Sestero’s memoir on the making of the movie will appreciate it the most.