We are on the verge of what could be the most meta moment Hollywood has ever seen.
When “The Room” was what can be loosely interpreted as released in 2003, writer/director/producer/lead actor Tommy Wiseau would find himself in the strange position of becoming a cult hero. Unable to get work as an actor in films or television shows, he and his best friend/co-producer/co-star Greg Sestero made what is known in many circles as the worst film in the history of EVER. But, in the way that things tend to do, “The Room” has become a strange cult hit, prompting midnight showings around the country for years with a level of interactivity that is compared on some level to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. The story behind the story was even stranger and more outrageous, prompting Sestero to write his memoirs of the experience in “The Disaster Artist”. James Franco was so enthralled by everything involved here that he himself produced, directed, and stars in the film adaptation of his book.
Leading what could be one of the most all-star packed casts in a LONG TIME like himself, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Zoey Deutch, Josh Hutcherson, Megan Mullaly, Zac Efron, Bryan Cranston, Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith, and the list goes on and on, this is one of those larger-than-life stories that could easily collapse under its own weight with the principals involved. Knowing how close a lot of this cast is in real life, I would imagine that most of them did their roles for scale if not below because of how fun this production had to be to make. Add to that the rumor that they re-shot the entire film shot-for-shot (which I would LOVE to see), and the imagination simply runs wild as the story unfolds on screen.
(All of that being said, it is important to note that I truly feel that before you see “The Disaster Artist” that it is equally necessary to see “The Room” in a theater with an audience that knows what to do and when to do it. “The Disaster Artist” can exist on its own, but the level of appreciation that I have for it comes from the fact that I saw its subject matter in its natural habitat the week before. Heck, it made it more fun!)
Here is where the interesting part happens: Franco is so great in this that I truly believe that there will be some Best Actor nominations if not a few wins here, and maybe even some Best Picture stuff. So, if and when that happens, we could see the rare “worst to first” situation in the entertainment industry. Oh, and it would be SO GLORIOUS to see. I honestly feel like Franco would let Wiseau do the speech, even though he would have to help him keep it on the rails. Seriously, this film is THAT good. Go see it, go see it now, go see it again, and my only other hope here is that the remake of the film itself is included on the Blu-Ray, as the side-by-side comparisons during the end credits are nothing short of brilliant and DEAD ON.