My latest Goodreads review (book #12 toward my 20 book goal for 2017) delves into the stranger side of Hollywood.
The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In August, I saw a preview for “The Disaster Artist.” Having seen “The Room” five-plus times in the last seven years (Thanks, Nostalgia Critic!), this movie immediately got added to my “Mandatory Movie Night” list.
I knew this book existed, and it was on my “Must Read” list, behind several other books I wanted to read first. And trust me, it was worth the wait – in fact, it would have torn me apart not to finally read it!
The story takes place between the late 1990s and 2003. Greg Sestero is a nineteen-year-old acting student, who meets Tommy Wiseau in a San Francisco acting class. Greg talks about his interactions with Wiseau, his acting classes, his journey to aspired fame, coupled with a story about a man who moved to this country with dreams, achieved them, but wanted fame to be part of that.
Greg’s story moves back and forth on the timeline – chapters alternate the timeline (for example, one chapter will talk about Greg’s aspirations, his move to Los Angeles, his acting jobs, while the next chapter talks about production on the movie). Within several chapters is a story about “Pierre” and his beginnings in the communist Soviet, his move to France, Louisiana, and eventually California. The story alternates between the pre-The Room years and the actual production, but both stories lead towards the then-present of 2003.
It is one heck of a story, folks.
Sestero tells a good story – obviously, this is his perspective. Considering the unusual type Tommy Wiseau projects through his character in the movie, I’m not shocked that any of what Sestero discusses happened.
I actally liked “The Room”…in an appreciation of “the old college try” and bad movies way. I absolutely love the ambitious attempt Wiseau made, and how his dream was realized through the jumbled, convulted story of a man betrayed by his fiancee and over-emphasized “best friend.” The movie is awkward, badly scripted, paced, and unwatchable when lacking a strong love for bad movies. To Wiseau, this movie is art, but to those of us who have seen it, it is an example of how not to make a movie.
My boyfriend wants to see “The Disaster Artist,” but has said he wants to see this before seeing “The Room,” as he wants an “outside looking in” perspective to accompany my “been there, done it, seen it” perspective. We’re both looking forward to it.
As for the book, I recommend it for anyone who has seen “The Room.” You really have to know the strange cult-like lure of the film (I’ve described it as not knowing what happened to the last 99 minutes of my life everytime I’ve seen it), but not necessarily have attended those infamous “Rocky Horror Picture Show”-type screenings. I myself would love to do that, though I have seen the RiffTrax Live treatment, so it sorta counts, right?
Give me credit!
Allison's Written Words