The Disaster Artist: My
Life Inside the Room is the true story about the making of the best bad
movie of all time: The Room. Written by
film co-star Greg Sestero the book follows him and his experiences while making
the film intertwining with Sestero’s early years with The Room’s director, star, writer, producer and funder the
enigmatic and mysterious man and now cult leader that is Tommy Wiseau.
Now this book is something that I wanted to read purely on
the basis that I needed to know (for my own personal intrigue) how a film like The Room could even be made. For anyone
who hasn’t seen The Room I implore
you to watch it. It’s one of the most surreal and bizarre experiences you’ll
ever have while watching a feature length film. But I’m not doing this blog to
review that (possibly another day) I want to review Greg Sestero’s incredible
book about the making of it.
The book’s narrative switches between Sestero’s experiences
in LA in the late 1990’s as a struggling young actor, who meets who meets a man
whom he shares absolutely nothing in common with, except for their ultimate
dream of becoming successful actors. In this segment Wiseau is a smaller part
of a bigger story, it’s the story of Greg and his life within Hollywood, his
struggles in finding work and his occasional encounters with celebrities. The
reason this story works so well is because Greg’s writing is so easy to read
and engrossing. You genuinely care about him on his slow journey upwards and
you’re curious about how this all links in with The Room.
The narrative will then switch back to the day to day
experiences Sestero had whilst filming The
Room. Sestero knew Wiseau better than anyone and was the only person who
could (even slightly) manage his eccentric and unruly ego. Wiseau truly believed
he was making the greatest film of all time, and believed that he was the best
actor to be playing the lead role. The book is absolutely fascinating as it
crams so much information into its chapters and makes you wonder (like the
production crew) what exactly Tommy Wiseau was going to pull next. Sestero
tells you everything he knows and thinks he knows about the mystery of Tommy
Wiseau and it’s so fascinating to read the stories of what was happening on
set. And how one crazy man could slip through all the Hollywood cracks and make
a film that has spawned this huge cult following.
I give this book 9/10. I totally recommend reading it, it’s absolutely fascinating and
hilarious. I hear there is a film version in the works to be directed by James
Franco also so I am curious to see what happens with that.
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