The Room falls under the category of "so bad it's good." The Disaster Artist, directed by James Franco, looks to capture everything that went wrong, and a few things that miraculously went right.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 5, 2018

Franco's film is disappointing and more than a little patronizing.

| Dec 14, 2017

It's entertaining, if framed and cut a touch manically.

| Dec 12, 2017

Funny -- sometimes brutally -- and surprisingly touching, it works whether you've seen the source material or not, though there are plentiful shout-outs to die-hard fans.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 11, 2017

Unlike its bosom buddy, Tim Burton's Ed Wood, it might be too niche a subject to resonate with mass audiences but it's evident Franco and crew are having a whale of a time.

| Dec 8, 2017

Wiseau also makes a pretty good avatar for Franco himself: a mercurial, relentless performer whose ambition encompasses a thrilling willingness to crash and burn. And it's that identification that makes the comedy work here: Franco kids because he loves.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 8, 2017

"The Disaster Artist" is a sweet, emotionally engaging tribute to friendship, the movies and the importance of dreams.

| Original Score: A | Dec 8, 2017

Wiseau, The Room and the making of a celluloid catastrophe are the subjects of The Disaster Artist, a fabulous, strange and frequently hilarious comedy-drama from the self-styled polymath James Franco.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 8, 2017

The Disaster Artist should definitely first be seen in the theater, with a raucous crowd roaring with laughter. But later it should be seen at home where you can also observe the film's sneaky empathy and grace.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 7, 2017

Franco delivers a comedy that's delightfully offbeat. It probably helps if you've actually seen "The Room," but you can safely spare yourself that experience.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 7, 2017

Both The Room and The Disaster Artist prove exceptions to the old adage that you can't polish a turd: while Wiseau saw his 'disasterpiece' evolve beyond his imagining, Franco, for his part, has spun tragicomic gold from the most tragic of base materials.

| Dec 7, 2017

[James] Franco has not just made a really sharp, funny movie about movie making. He's also made a layered and intimate portrait of a friendship with his own brother, Dave Franco.

| Dec 7, 2017

"The Disaster Artist" is a lot of fun, even if some of it is uncomfortable. And of course it's way better than "The Room."

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 7, 2017

This movie isn't just some Hollywood parody or inside joke. It takes Wiseau's humanity seriously and portrays him as a wounded individual who wanted to be an All-American James Dean-type hero and not the ogre or villain everyone else saw him as.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 7, 2017

Sincere and sporadically funny, The Disaster Artist is an endearing tribute to failing in Hollywood. Anyway, how is your sex life?

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 7, 2017

It's The Room with a view from people with talent, sniggering with a veneer of generosity to save face.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 7, 2017

Funny and alarmingly factual.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 7, 2017

The comedy, for all its scenes of giddy wonder, never gets past Tommy's mask of mystery; avoiding speculation and investigation, it stays on the surface of his public and private shtick, leaving little more than a trail of amusing anecdotes.

| Dec 4, 2017

James Franco hits all the right wrong notes in this hugely entertaining, true-life tale of Tommy Wiseau's 2003 "disasterpiece" film The Room.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 3, 2017

The Disaster Artist has all the fascination of a train wreck and will be essential viewing for anyone at all interested in the current status of the film industry.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 1, 2017