The Film (5/5)

    I first came across Tommy Wiseau's The Room in 2008 via an incorrectly burned DVD-R that would only play in a PC DVD drive. Oddly that may have been one of the more interesting ways to find myself introduced to this modern cult classic, one of the few films that could be prescribed that title in the post-2000 period. At the time it was described to me as a film that was building a cult audience in L.A. with weekend midnight showing in one theater, and advertised by a giant billboard. 

    I honestly didn't think much of it as I watched it other than it was a moderately humorous slightly bizarre film, and I didn't think much after. However, I was surprised in the decade to come when it became the cult film de jour for a generation of modern film viewers. The Room was the Rocky Horror Picture Show for the millennial generation, and like Rocky Horror I didn't it. 

    About a year or two back James Franco had announced he would make a film on the story behind this new cult classic. This would be based on the book The Disaster Artist written by the Room's co-star Greg Sestero. This actually did not surprise me one bit. Franco, has proven himself to be a cult savvy filmmaker in the last decade or so, creating a short film around William Friedkin's surprisingly under seen Cruising, and remaking the Lifetime film Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? As a lesbian vampire film. 

    The Disaster Artist sees Franco in the role of Tommy Wiseau and Dave Franco as Greg Sestero. The film opens oddly with celebrity appraisals of the Room, before flashing back to a San Francisco acting class, where Tommy Wiseau gives a reading from the "Stella" sequence from a Streetcar Named Desire. This same class is being observed by Sestero, and the two become fast friends. As it turns out Wiseau owns an apartment in L.A. and has a hidden reserve of cash. The two begin a collaboration, which turns into the production of the film that will be The Room.

    The Disaster Artist is an interesting film. It manages to replicate pieces of the Room so accurately from the making of side that it feels like you are truly getting a glimpse of the real making of. It also feels like a true comedy of errors, a Spinal Tap for filmmakers if you will, except the film they are making is based off a genuine article.   The performances across the board are fantastic. James Franco feels like he's truly channeling Wiseau, who is such a public persona, that you can pretty much easily compare the two. Aside from the film's surface level comedic moments, and callouts to the Room itself, The Disaster Artist works well as a satire of the Hollywood studio system in and of itself.

Audio/Video (4/5)

    Lionsgate presents the Disaster Artist in a 2:40:1 AVC encoded transfer (with Room recreations framed at 1:85:1). The Blu-ray for the most part looks fantastic, aside from darker moments with less obvious detail. Color is stable, flesh tones are accurate, Everything is quite solid here.

   Audio is handled a DTS-HD MA 7.1 track in English. Dialogue and score here sound just fine. I found no issues.

Extras (3.5/5)

     The extras include a fantastic commentary with the 2 Franco's Tommy Wiseau, Greg Sestero, and more that is a wild fun time. There are some interviews, trailers, and an EPK.

Overall

    For fans of the Room, and for fans of film making comedies The Disaster Artist is a true blast. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic fantastic, and has a nice slate of extras HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.