The Disaster Artist

[Tragi-Chan]

I went to see it, and I loved it. I saw it with a friend who hasn't seen The Room (so god knows why he wanted to see this), and he also enjoyed it. It's very funny, often weirdly moving. It does simplify a lot for the sake of the story, but that's par for the course in biopics.

James Franco does over-exaggerate Wiseau's accent, to be fair. It's also slightly odd that so much is made of the fact that he's way older than Greg Sestero, given that he and Dave Franco look about the same age. That aside, I'd say he does a pretty good job of capturing the insanity of Wiseau. I was also quite impressed by Seth Rogen, who very much plays the straight man.

Basically, I would say that it does for Tommy Wiseau much what Ed Wood did for Ed Wood, i.e. it's an affectionate tribute to one of God's true originals.

 

[Another Fellow]

So I finally went and saw it today with my dad who's also a Room fan. I loved it, it did naaaht disappoint. Like @Tragi-Chan said, there was a lot that didn't make it (I frankly wanted to see Greg's first night in L.A., that part of the book was hilarious), but what did get in was spot-on. The ending didn't quite work for me, I kind of prefer how the book ended, but all in all it was great and I'm definitely going to see it again at some point.

In short: ...what a story.

 

[QB 290]

That movie was fucking awesome, they included some scenes that didn't happen irl but they were so well done, they fit right in.
James Franco deserves a big hug

 

[Cosmos]

I just got back from the theatre. I really enjoyed it! I've read the book a couple of times and I adore it, and I feel like the movie captured the book's heart pretty well.

Some of the casting choices made me immensely happy, like Zac Effron as Chris R and Nathan Fielder as Peter the psychologist. Of course, James Franco stole the show; the only way I could tell him and Tommy Wiseau apart is because Tommy is more gargoyle-like.

 

[TrippinKahlua]

Wasn't there already a thread for this?

So the book has this detail that I would kill to see. That being the vision of Scott Holmes dressed in the "disguise" since Tommy once considered using him for Chris-R. I would love to see the goofy looking Mike then dressed in horn-rimmed glasses and Indiana Jones-Style fedora asking for his Fucking Money.

That seems to be impossible though, so I hope James Franco made the next best thing.

Say, Scott Holmes seems to be the only member of the cast who I haven't seen any footage of outside the movie. Wonder why.

 

[Pickle Inspector]

Not read the book but I enjoyed the movie (I plan to though), the pacing seemed a bit wonky but I guess it was based on real events, also it was sureal sitting in a cinema watching people in a cinema watch The Room!

 

[Cosmos]

So the book has this detail that I would kill to see. That being the vision of Scott Holmes dressed in the "disguise" since Tommy once considered using him for Chris-R. I would love to see the goofy looking Mike then dressed in horn-rimmed glasses and Indiana Jones-Style fedora asking for his Fucking Money.

That seems to be impossible though, so I hope James Franco made the next best thing.

Unfortunately, the movie doesn't capture the sheer level of detail that's included in the book. I knew that it was impossible going in, but I was still disappointed to see so many of my favorite little scenes cut out. I'm also disappointed that they didn't include any of the gratuitous dubbing that made The Room so incredible (like, all of Tommy Wiseau's lines are poorly dubbed).

 

[Henry Bemis]

I'm also disappointed that they didn't include any of the gratuitous dubbing that made The Room so incredible (like, all of Tommy Wiseau's lines are poorly dubbed)

Sound editing, I'm guessing, is either just that subliminal, or, more likely, just that much harder to make dramatically compelling.

 

[Doug_Hitzel]

Watched it yesterday. It was surprisingly sympathetic and made me like Tommy Wiseau even more.
It would have been so easy turning him into a Borat-like character, but James Franco did it the right way.

Hopefully it will be nominated for an Oscar, so Tommy gets invited to the Academy Awards Show.
“Oh hai, Oscar.”

 

[WeeGee]

Saw it today with my wife, there was no one else in the theater so we laughed laud and hard the entire time.

 

[TrippinKahlua]

I will say it one more time, I will be annoyed if Franco's portrayal is 100% the same over-exaggerated Wiseau-accent.

I get that its easy to portray Tommy/Johnny this way but Channel Awesome and everyone else already did it to death. Tommy does not say "HUHHHH????" every ten seconds, let alone say it with such a long draw. He also tries to speak in a non European accent. He also is not a dope who would say "Happy birthday" in response to Greg's mom saying she just turned 26.

I've read the book many, many times. Tommy is a smart man, and has a brain.

If Franco is to get an Oscar for this, he better add more to portraying Wiseau as a parody. This wasn't supposed to be a parody in the first place.

 

[c-no]

Got to watch the film earlier today. Did not disappoint.

Unfortunately, the movie doesn't capture the sheer level of detail that's included in the book. I knew that it was impossible going in, but I was still disappointed to see so many of my favorite little scenes cut out. I'm also disappointed that they didn't include any of the gratuitous dubbing that made The Room so incredible (like, all of Tommy Wiseau's lines are poorly dubbed).

The film could of try to do some scenes that were from the book like Greg's mom telling Tommy "no sex" or some other part of Greg's past with Tommy like getting a telegram from Wiseau while doing a film made in Romania.

 

[Troglodyte.35]

I adored the book and I felt a little sad because it would be so much better a Netflix series because my god there is so much content. I don't blame the film makers at all though. If TLJ sucks it will probably be on my best of 2017 list

 

[Henry Bemis]

Saw it last night, and I'd also highly recommend it.

Whatever extremely particular gaps exist in James Franco's stellar performance as Tommy, he more than compensates with that pervasive Wiseauvian blankness, the way nothing seems to be going on behind his eyes.

You could also make a movie with all the book material that was cut, but whatever compressions, excisions, and licenses the writers made were dramatically sensible and thoroughly in the spirit of the story. (For instance, without spoiling anything, Greg's beard-shaving finally has something to do with something.)

It captures everything that made the book matter. It's about the light and dark sides of friendship, of boundless optimism. It's about getting the job done, not being a star. It's about, simply put, human behavior in a crucible.

 

[Trombonista]

I will say it one more time, I will be annoyed if Franco's portrayal is 100% the same over-exaggerated Wiseau-accent.

I get that its easy to portray Tommy/Johnny this way but Channel Awesome and everyone else already did it to death. Tommy does not say "HUHHHH????" every ten seconds, let alone say it with such a long draw. He also tries to speak in a non European accent. He also is not a dope who would say "Happy birthday" in response to Greg's mom saying she just turned 26.

I've read the book many, many times. Tommy is a smart man, and has a brain.

If Franco is to get an Oscar for this, he better add more to portraying Wiseau as a parody. This wasn't supposed to be a parody in the first place.

Just go see the fucking movie already.

 

[TrippinKahlua]

Just go see the fucking movie already.

I can't because I have no way to get to a movie theater without an airplane.

I've been looking around the shady movie pirate sites though. No luck yet.

 

[Trombonista]

I can't because I have no way to get to a movie theater without an airplane.

I've been looking around the shady movie pirate sites though. No luck yet.

Well, then, I'll let you know that I don't remember Franco uttering a single "huh" in the film.

 

[Lensherr]

This movie was surprisingly inspiring.

 

[Steamboat_Bill]

So! - I went to see it just this night.

I love the book, and I felt a little disappointed that some of the best moments in it were left out: the commercial Tommy makes for Street Fashions, Tommy singing “A Whole New World” in the shower, anything having to do with his backstory...

But overall it does work as a functional adaptation. The moments they kept in are done well: I nearly fainted laughing when Tommy kept blowing the “I did not hit her” line. And they did show how much of an asshole Tommy could be, which is very obvious if you read the book.

The critical acclaim is well-deserved. I thought if done really well it could be the Ed Wood for this century. It’s not done quite as well as I wanted - but it probably will be that anyway, and it’ll deserve to be so.

 

[Henry Bemis]

And they did show how much of an asshole Tommy could be, which is very obvious if you read the book.

That's another adjustment I really liked. The book gets into Tommy craziness right off the bat, specifically his pathological lying, bullying, and women issues. The movie builds to it; Tommy starts out as a lovably irrepressible eccentric, and then it builds towards the film's production, when his irrepressible eccentricity stops being so lovable.