James Franco Is The Best Worst Director In ‘The Disaster Artist’

For a movie about the worst movie ever made, James Franco's The Disaster Artist looks pretty freakin' good.

That is, perhaps, the point. Franco, after all, is a well-oiled cinephile with more degrees than your Average Joe and the resources to produce polished passion projects. He's a lover of garbage work, too, like the much lampooned 2003 movie The Room that's the subject of this film. Him subverting the entire thing is the most James Franco thing James Franco could possibly do.

Franco plays Tommy Wiseau, the director and star of The Room. Wiseau, at the time, was aspiring to be something big in Hollywood. He somehow wrangled $6 million and brought his unpublished 540-page novel to life. It immediately was blasted by critics, with The Guardian's Steve Rose saying, "To make a movie that's so bad it's good you need vision, drive, luck and obsessive vanity." Rose didn't stop there, "Fortuitously, The Room's writer/producer/director/star Tommy Wiseau appears to possess all of these qualities, combined with a total lack of acting talent."

The thing here is, Franco does possess all of these qualities and acting talent, which makes The Disaster Artist meta beyond words. Franco directing a movie about the worst director/movie ever, while playing the director of the worst movie ever with such vigor that he's earning critical acclaim, is a trip. Sign us up.

The Disaster Artist hits theaters this December 1.