What "The Disaster Artist" got right and wrong about the making of The Room
Thursday November 30th, Steven and I attended the San Francisco premiere of The Disaster Artist at The Alamo Drafthouse in the Mission District. We were excited to see the place packed with local San Franciscans who we could tell have all probably lined up outside The Clay Theater at midnight armed with plastic spoons once or twice in their day.
"The Room"
If you don't know what I'm talking about I mean they all seemed to be dedicated fans of the cult film that The Disaster Artist was inspired by, The Room. The Room is a 2003 romantic drama...or at least it was intended to be...about a man named Johnny whose finace Lisa is cheating on him with his best friend Mark. Johnny is played by the film's director and producer Tommy Wiseau, an eccentric with an odd trademark look of long black flowing hair and sunglasses, with a unique accent that he won't disclose the roots of.
The film is known today as the Citizen Kane of bad movies, meaning when judged by the standard criteria of filmmaking, it tanks in all areas. However, it's so consistently bizarre and awful in a conventional way, that it is incredibly enjoyable and endearing if you try to judge it as someone appreciating it for what it is and not for what it isn't. And what it is is possibly one of the funniest movies I've ever seen in my life.
Over time, moviegoers began appreciating the film for its quirks and hilarious lines and acting, and started to put together viewing parties at local theaters around the country. And just like the Rocky Horror Picture show, the viewings are done late at night, making noise and yelling out the famous lines is permitted, and you are allowed to throw plastic spoons pending you don't damage the film screens.
The film, while it made less than $2000 when it first opened in 2003, is still making money to this day due to its rewatchability and dedicated fanbase. Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero (Mark from the film, and buddy of Tommy's from acting classes) even attend screenings to speak and sign autographs.
"The Disaster Artist"
In 2013, Sestero, along with author Tom Bissell, wrote and published a book titled "The Disaster Artist," which contained everything he remembers from the filming of The Room. From Tommy's realization that he wants to make the movie, to mishaps with the script, to the reason behind the bizarreness of our favorite scenes. For your own copy of the book, click here. I purchased my paperback copy on Amazon and was not at all disappointed with that decision. I recommend it for any fan of The Room.
James Franco and "The Disaster Artist"
Recently, James Franco has released a film he's made based on the events of Sestero's book, with him playing Wiseau and his younger brother Dave Franco playing Sestero. Below is footage of James and Dave Franco discussing the movie at the Alamo Drafthouse during the premiere we attended.
And while it's apparent that the Franco's have respect for Wiseau and Sestero and did them justice playing very likable versions of both of them, it's definitely apparent that many creative liberties were taken either to save time or to steer the film in a different direction. As someone who both loves The Room and the book The Disaster Artist, I have taken it upon myself to document what the movie got right and what it decided to skip on or change. And quick disclaimer: When I say "got it right," I mean how accurate it was to Sestero's book, which I realize could potentially have its own inaccuracies.
Spoiler Alert, the rest of this article will include tons about the plot of the book and of the James Franco movie, so read at your own risk!
Tommy's Attitude
They got it right!
James Franco plays Wiseau's character in such a compelling and accurate way. From his strange mannerisms to his unique accent that he even admits is everchanging, to his persistence, and his carefree attitude towards being rejected by the film industry, I think this performance was spot-on. It was a bit more of a whimsical portrayal than Sestero's book let on, but over all, it was on the money.
Greg's Attitude
They got it wrong!
My personal biggest gripe with this film was how incorrectly it portrayed Greg Sestero compared to how he seems to be in his book. The book, which was written by Greg, always described him as apprehensive and irritated during every step of the making of The Room. He thought Tommy was really strange, was intimidated by him at times (although not as much as the average person,) and was not interested in working on the project, as he had his own acting pursuits to worry about. Tommy offered for Greg to live at his apartment in L.A, making Tommy one of Greg's only support in that city, and then dangled a brand new car in front of him to get him to work on his project with him. With Greg's old car falling apart, he felt that he needed to do it. He began as a P.A. on set of The Room, and only after Tommy had fired the actor who was supposed to play Mark, was he forced Greg into the role. Which would explain why the character of Mark can seem so blasé.
Greg's Mom
They got it wrong!
I was sort of looking forward to seeing someone portray Greg Sestero's French mother, with a thick accent and a distaste for everything unfamiliar. He describes his mom as someone who detested Tommy from the get-go, thinking he was trying to seduce and brainwash her son. She threatened him many times that if anything happened to Greg, she'd have his head. She was also the one to confirm that there was no way Tommy was French like he claimed, based on his accent and appearance...although, we really didn't need her help to figure that one out. In the film, Greg's mother - played by Megan Mullalley - is American and just slightly hesitant about his sudden move to Los Angeles. But overall, she's sweet and supportive. A huge part of the book was that Greg's mother kept telling him to give up on his dreams and come back home. So many of his doubts in himself were reinforced by her attitude. Which brings me to my next point.
The Point of View
THEY TOOK IT IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION
Because the book is from Greg Sestero's point of view, it is mostly about his journey from San Francisco to Hollywood, and everything that happens to him between meeting Tommy for the first time and the premiere of The Room. Because the movie was created by James Franco, who was playing Tommy, it of course had to be centered around Tommy. I must say though, while the book was from the point of view of Greg, I still got the feeling that the book was on track talking about Tommy. Tommy was the star of the book. But the difference between the book and the movie is that while we got to know Tommy in both, not having things come from Greg's point of view in particular made it hard to get to know him.
The Framing
THEY TOOK IT IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION
The book's framework jumps around from the middle of production for The Room, back to the day the two main characters met, while simultaneously telling the story of both of their lives and careers. It reminded me of the framing for 500 Days of Summer. And I personally liked it. I thought it worked really well to give you a whole lot of information in a short amount of time. Of course, the movie can't afford to confuse audiences at all, so all scenes were in chronological order. But I still think they could have gone with the back and forth method and been successful doing so.
Greg’s Career
THEY got it wrong!
There's hardly any mention in the film of Greg's modeling and acting career before The Room. In the book, he describes that he always wanted to be in the entertainment industry, and that after high school, while figuring it all out, he became a model and flew to Europe for some photoshoots and runway shows. He was becoming very successful, but wanted a new challenge. So when he and Tommy became friends and Tommy offered to let him stay at his apartment in LA, he went down to SoCal by himself (and was not given the correct keys for entry, so he had to stay at a scary motel his first night) he got himself an agent, and stumbled his way through many auditions, landing a role as a background character in Patch Adams (where he got to meet San Franciscan, Robin Williams for a brief moment) a small role on a soap opera, and the lead in Retro Puppet Master. And while this may not sound like a huge success story, the process of him finding roles was very interesting and the amount of opportunity he acquired over time was very impressive. And something I thought the movie could have used a pinch of, even if it would be in a montage or brief flashback.
Tommy’s living space
THEY got some of it right
Many of Tommy's strange behaviors were ultimately left out of the film. My guess is that they were trying their best to tell the truth without offending Tommy. He afterall owns the rights to The Room, and they couldn't do this movie without him. So it makes sense that they kept out some details about his living space. While his apartments did contain some interesting memorabilia, it was also very dirty according to Greg, and difficult to live in. Apparently there were spoiled drinks in the fridge and grime everywhere. And while the film did nod to the small action figures around his home, they forgot to mention his massive collection of Disney-themed McDonald's Happy Meal toys. I was actually sort of looking forward to seeing those.
amber and the Beard Incident
THEY got it wrong!
In the book, Greg's girlfriend Amber shows up only a few times, and is portrayed as someone with a really bad attitude and a mighty disdain for Tommy. She keeps encouraging him to end the friendship as it's getting in the way of his relationship with her, and Tommy and her have never gotten along. She isn't the sweet and involved girlfriend portrayed in the movie. Although, if you ask me, considering Amber is played by Dave Franco's wife Alison Brie, I'm guessing they wanted to give her more screen time.
And no, all that nonsense with Bryan Cranston never happened. Greg was never offered a role on Malcolm in the Middle. Rumors have it that he either shaved his beard in the middle of filming The Room because he didn't want to be recognized as being part of the film, or that he did it because he didn't know he'd be part of the film when he was first forced to read for Mark, bearded and all.
The Casting Process
They got it wrong!
Something very memorable about he book was he level of difficulty involved in casting all of their characters. Many actors and actresses lost interest in auditioning after meeting Tommy and assuming the film was either a scam or a porno. While they do mention in the film that people were worried it was a rated X film and that Tommy would ask them to do bizarre things in the casting room, they don't go into detail about how difficult it was to get people to agree to do this movie.
Tommy did not like Juliette Danielle as Lisa, as he was hoping for an "Angelina Jolie-type," but she was one of the few women who was willing to kiss him passionately, so she won the role. Also, he had a different crop of actors playing Mark and other ensemble characters, but fired them when he didn't like their attitudes.
Another thing I was surprised by was Zac Efron's one-note portrayal of Dan Janjigian, the actor who played Chris-R in the original film. Janjigian is well-educated, a public speaker, and an Olympian. And what was funny in the book was that he was put-together and intelligent, playing this mindless drugdealer. But Efron decided to just play the character as a one-note idiot who was confusedly part of the movie. Janjigian even tweeted he was a bit hurt that Efron never reached out to him before playing him in the film. It's the little details like that that make me feel like this film was more of an excuse to have celebrity cameos than to tell the story of The Disaster Artist.
Tommy’s Look On-Set
THEY got IT RIGHT!
I appreciate that this film got a lot of imagery of Tommy correct. He was obsessed with working out, having pull-up bars in doorways in both of his apartments, he wet his hair a lot on-set to give it a glossy look, to the dismay of his hair dresser, his clothing was very ill-fitting most of the time, he wore two belts at a time, one to hold up his pants and one to "hold up his ass," and the pockets of his pants were always filled to the brim, which you can also see in The Room. However, in The Disaster Artist movie, he fills his pockets up with random items found on set for no reason, and in reality they have no idea what was in his pockets. Greg has said that it almost looks like sand filling them to the brim.
On a side note, it's true that before the infamous love scene between Johnny and Lisa, Tommy walked around set naked saying "I need to show my ass to sell this movie!"
Tommy’s Relationships on-Set
THEY got IT mostly RIGHT!
Another thing I have to give the movie some props on were the relationships between Tommy and his cast and crew members. Tommy made things very difficult by showing up to set four hours late, (Every day though, mind you. The film makes it seem like an isolated incident.) by spending money on silly items such as a set for the alley scene that looks like every alley in America and a private bathroom constructed just for him. He also didn't provide enough water on set and caused one of his actresses to pass out. And it was true that he made fun of Juliette Danielle's skin to the point where she cried and the crew had to stick up for her.
However, the film didn't speak about all of the constant firing and hiring on set. And how many cast and crew members left for better opportunities. One actor in particular who left the project in the middle of production was Kyle Vogt who played Peter the psychologist. His character was later replaced (not so subtly) by Steven, played by Greg Ellery, the nosey friend who randomly butts into Lisa's life in the second half of the film.
To me though, one of the most memorable moments in the book is when Tommy decides after the first filming of the rooftop scene (done with the green screen and tin hut that The Disaster Artist movie accurately portrays) that he'd like more shots done of it, even after the set has been taken apart. He asks a carpenter to come back and reassemble the entire set, and refused to pay her the amount they agreed on, not even paying for the nails she had to purchase to get the job done. I wish they had kept that in.
Tommy on premiere night
THEY got IT mostly right!
At the end of the day, what this movie was trying to do was to represent the feeling many people get as they try to make it big in Hollywood. Through the successes and the failures, it's the tenacity and positivity of the person that gets them through all of the heartache and the rejection. And that's the story of Tommy Wiseau that the movie portrays. It gives a nice boost of confidence to those trying to make their dreams come true, and it's understandable why Tommy and Greg's story was such an inspiration to the Franco brothers to make this film. And throughout the difficult process of making a movie that barely anyone wanted to see, Tommy was excited to see his final product and show it off to the world.
The only way that the film misrepresented Tommy's attitude the night of the premiere was that he didn't feel like the film was anything to laugh about even after audiences voiced their opinions. He felt it was brilliant and still sticks up for the picture to this day. And that attitude is something I guess we can all take from both The Room, The Disaster Artist book, and The Disaster Artist film. The attitude that keeps a person confident in their ideas, persistent in their pursuits and content with their accomplishments.
I recommend fans of The Room check out both the book and the film of The Disaster Artist to get a well-rounded take on the entire story of the making of one of our favorite bad movies of all time.
