Sunday, December 10, 2017

A Movie Review: The Disaster Artist

In 2003, Tommy Wiseau proved to the world, a way to become famous in the arts and entertainment industry is to make a "one of a kind" disaster piece. 

What disaster piece? Have you heard of a movie called The Room? The Room is an independent drama, and it is widely agreed by critics and audiences alike as the worst movie ever made. Today, The Room is a beloved cult classic.

Why would people love a really bad movie? 

Because it is a hella fun!

Although unintentional, but every scene in The Room is wrong; from the narratives, the settings, the directions, to the acting, everything is brilliantly out of whack. Yet, all the "wrongness" in The Room combined in such a miraculous way, to create this indescribable, cinematic experience. Even if you put together, the top ten directors in the world and charge them with a mission to craft a bad movie, the chances of them making a movie as deliciously bad as The Room is like winning the Lotto at the very second of planetary alignment!

If you haven't seen The Room, then you should try it at least once in your life. Really, this movie should be on everyone's bucket list.

The Room is a spectacular disaster and a treasure, but Tommy Wiseau remains a mystery to the legions of fans. You see, in the early 2000s, Tommy Wiseau suddenly appeared out of nowhere, who then took a few million bucks out of his own pocket to make The Room. No one knows where Tommy was born, how old he is, why he speaks with a strange accent, or why his bank account is a bottomless pit (BTW, the man also looks like Count Dracula).

Putting it simply, the guy is a total mystery. That is, until The Disaster Artist hit the cinema this weekend and shed some lights into the story behind The Room's making. And I have to tell you, the story about Tommy Wiseau is even more extraordinary than The Room itself.

Starring James Franco, The Disaster Artist recounts the powerful story behind the making of The Room. Powerful? Yes, I did just use the word "powerful" to describe this movie. While The Disaster Artist is a comedy and abundant with humor, but at its core, this movie is about one man's determination to turn his vision into the reality (even if his vision turned out to be the worst movie ever made).

This movie is funny. When I was watching this movie, my eyes watered and my stomach was hurting from laughing too hard. James Franco did an excellent job at portraying Tommy Wiseau. The moment James Franco appeared on the screen, I thought to myself, "yep, I can believe that man is Tommy Wiseau". The supporting actors and actresses also put up brilliant performances on par with James Franco's own.

The Disaster Artist is a comedy, but underneath the laughters, this movie is heart wrenching and inspiring. Tommy was determined to make his vision come true and he didn't care what other people say to him. This story moved me. I mean, how many of us are letting the fear of failure stop us from doing something that we always wanted to do? Yet, at the same time, this movie also showed the negative side to Tommy's attitude. While it was good that Tommy didn't care about other people's comments, but he overdid it, to the point where he rejected all good advices and constructive criticisms. In this movie, Tommy was the hero, but he was also the villain. This brings up the point, maybe we do need to listen to other people's criticisms of us. But how much should we care? To what extent? I don't know, maybe there is no easy answer to this.

I loved The Disaster Artist. This year is bursting with highly anticipated movies, but my most anticipated movie was this one, and it did not disappoint me. The Disaster Artist is one of my favorite movies of 2017 alongside La La Land, Logan, and War for the Planet of the Apes. I highly recommend this movie.

P.S.

1) You don't need to have seen The Room to enjoy The Disaster Artist.

2) But you really should check out The Room at least once in your life, it is an otherworldly experience; out of space, and out of time.




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