The Shortcoming Artist

The Room is known as one of the worst movies ever made due to multiple factors such as its unrealistic acting and dialogue. In response, James Franco directed, produced, and starred in the comedic film The Disaster Artist, which tells the etiology of Tommy Wiseau, director and star of The Room, and how he was motivated to create such a critically savaged movie. The Disaster Artist contains similar attributes to Wiseau’s film, such as alike accents, dialogue, and costume designs, that not only contribute to making the origin story as realistic as possible, but also allows for humorous and lighthearted moments throughout the film. While Franco's movie is primarily targeted towards fans of comedy, it is also marketed towards the cult followers of The Room who want to continue to make light of Tommy Wiseau's movie and his abnormal personality that is highlighted in the film. Overall, considering the reliance of references from The Room, I think anyone who did not see or enjoy Wiseau’s film should not watch The Disaster Artist because although James Franco’s biographical comedy movie succeeded in providing hilarious parallels with The Room through the similar appearances of the characters and the accurate portrayal of Tommy Wiseau, the movie was not as amusing as expected due to the lackluster dialogue.

First and foremost, the appearance of the characters in The Disaster Artist are similar to the ones featured in The Room which adds authenticity and humor to James Franco's film. The majority of the core cast members are renowned comedians, such as Franco, his brother Dave Franco, Zac Efron, and Seth Rogen. Since these actors were picked for their reputations and acting skills rather than appearance, most bare no resemblance to the original cast of The Room. However, in order to add authenticity and humor to The Disaster Artist, these comedians wear different prosthetics, props, and outfits in order to appear more like the original characters. For example, Tommy Wiseau has lazy blue eyes and long black hair. Therefore, James Franco, who plays Wiseau in The Disaster Artist, wears a prosthesis to make his eye look lazy, blue contact lenses, and a wig. Fans of Franco can recognize his ridiculous appearance compared to how he usually looks. Likewise, other actors from Franco’s movie made similar changes to their appearances in order to look more like the original characters from The Room. For example, Dave Franco grew facial hair and Efron wore black clothing and a beanie in order to look like a criminal. The similarities between the characters provide a funny parallel between Wiseau’s film and The Disaster Artist which fans of the original film can recognize and find humorous. However, people who have not seen The Room may not identify the similarities and in turn, will not be in on the joke.

Furthermore, James Franco is hilarious while playing the role of Tommy Wiseau in The Disaster Artist because of his accurate portrayal of his accent and mannerisms. All the actors in Franco’s film authentically played their roles, however, James Franco’s terrific acting stood out from the other actors in the movie. For example, Wiseau is European and communicates using broken English that is paired with a thick accent that makes him hard to understand; Franco perfectly imitates Wiseau's signature way of speaking. Additionally, Franco nails Wiseau's trademark fake laugh and his dramatic hair flips; Franco noticed Wiseau's mannerisms and mimics him perfectly throughout the film. The precise mirroring of the original characters from The Room from all the actors from The Disaster Artist, especially James Franco, allows for comedic moments where the audience can connect Franco’s film to Wiseau’s original movie. However, since James Franco's impersonation of Wiseau is only humorous to those who have seen The Room, the comedy may be lost to those who have not seen Wiseau’s film.

Lastly, the dialogue in The Disaster Artist is humorous, yet less so than expected based on advertisements and may only be comical to those who have seen Wiseau’s movie, The Room. Franco’s film is marketed as a comedy in television advertisements that feature famous comedians, and although the movie has a handful of funny moments, the film is lacking satire throughout, especially when compared to past features that the acclaimed aforementioned comedians, such as James Franco and Seth Rogen, have been involved in in the past. The movie contained minimal traditional jokes, most of the farce in the film comes from comical references to The Room. The Disaster Artist is funny because it makes light of Tommy Wiseau’s critically savaged movie, The Room. For potential viewers who have not seen Wiseau’s film or did not enjoy making fun of it, The Disaster Artist will not be funny or amusing.

Overall, The Disaster Artist should be treated as a companion piece as opposed to a standalone film. Although James Franco's biographical comedy has humorous aspects, such as the appearance of the characters and the accurate portrayal of Tommy Wiseau, the dialogue is disappointing since it is not humorous throughout the movie, especially to those who have not seen Wiseau’s original movie. I would suggest anyone who loved to hate The Room to see The Disaster Artist because of the enlightening origin story of Tommy Wiseau and the amazing similarities in appearance between the characters in both films. Although the movie has comedic moments, because of the mostly lackluster dialogue and the overall reliance of references from The Room, I think anyone who did not see The Room should not watch The Disaster Artist.