At last year's Oscars, in addition to the rare topic of winning (Wu) Family (Dragon) "Moonlight Boy" was exposed in many years, there was also the blockbuster independent film company A24 behind it. This distribution company, established in 2012, quickly entered the public eye with its unique vision of selecting films. There are numerous small and medium cost movies with different styles. In 2015, it entered the Oscar competition for the first time with "Machines" and "Room". In the following year, he won the first best picture with "Moonlight Boy". In 2017, in addition to "Miss Bird", which was highly anticipated during the awards season, another film work that cannot be ignored is "Disaster Artist".
If you want to talk about "Disaster Artist", you have to mention its prototype movie, which was shot in 2003 and another stunning work called "The Room." This film, written, directed and acted by Tommy Weissou, can be called a generation of wonders. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the "Citizen Kane" of the contemporary bad film world-bad editing, acting beyond the lower limit, The inexplicable special effects and plot, as well as the hysteresis caused by excess self-awareness, have finally become a source of inspiration for a generation of Cult classics and countless memes under the fermentation of the Internet age. Compared with the superficial mess, "The Room" left a huge question in the hearts of the audience-what kind of chaos is the behind-the-scenes production process? What kind of person is Tommy Wesser? What kind of soul and mind did this film, which was produced seriously and at the same time seemingly absurd, come from?
These intriguing questions eventually led to the birth of this movie.
After that, the luckiest thing happened: such a peculiarly attractive story fell into the hands of the most peculiar comedy partners in Hollywood: James Franco and Seth Rogen.
Returning after a three-year absence, this pair of prime comedy partners (plus Evan Gordonberg) still did not disappoint. And with the efforts of two small fresh screenwriters, Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadt ("500 Days with Summer", "Fault in the Stars" and "Paper Town"), "Disaster" The "Artist" inherited and grasped the biographical nature of the original work well, allowing the film to break free from the clichéd "little man's big dream" model, and deepening the sense of absurdity in the whole story. Compared with the first half of the regular narrative focus, the second half of the film is obviously more interesting in content (one of the important reasons is that "The Room" itself is very interesting), giving full play to the humorous talents of several protagonists. When the play-in-play mode started, there was a significant comedy bonus.
From the perspective of the final film, it is easy to understand why the middle-aged James Franco, the most unsatisfied literary and artistic in Hollywood, was attracted by this theme and Tommy Wesser himself-both of them blurred their lives. The "artist" with dreams puts ideals above their own existence. Therefore, you can hardly see James Franco’s personal opinions on Tommy Wessell in "Disaster Artist". It is more of a black-box restoration from the inside out, beyond imitation. ——Even the wonderful accent and behavior are well integrated into the role, not deliberately. In front of the camera, his every move is impressive, as if the audience and James Franco himself were unknowingly lost in the story. Compared with his directorship, James Franco almost completely disappeared from the role in this film, giving Tommy Wesser a clear and credible motive in the film, thus arousing empathy from the audience. With this role, James Franco is totally worthy of the award he has won.
And his younger brother, Greg played by Dave Franco, as the first protagonist in name, has a very good screen chemistry with Tommy Wesser, which makes the movie more comprehensive. But compared with other James Franco’s comedy movies, "Disaster Artist", in order to focus more on the friendship changes between Tommy and Greg, did not give other characters too much space. This is for Seth Rogen, Old and new gang members such as Josh Hutcherson and Zac Efron seemed a bit unfair.
In any case, Tommy Wessell in the eyes of "Disaster Artist" is also an ordinary person whose heart is hurt and needs to be loved. From "Fox Hunter" to "Behind the Candlestick", many recent biographical films have used various methods to portray these insecure and wealthy men, expressing their emotions and importance with incredible actions. Obviously, the film drew a lot of nutrients from Tim Burton's "Edwood", and in the context of the Internet spirit and contemporary cultural deconstruction, "Disaster Artist" is also fully worthy of the "Edwood" of our time. Durwood-It’s just that the whole story is lighter and more enjoyable.
To a certain extent, we can say that the worst movie in the new century gave birth to the best literary comedy of 2017. Under the lens of James Franco, who is possessed by a model worker, "Disaster Artist" is a love letter to fans of "The Room" and anyone who has the dream of Hollywood.
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