How should fans of 'The Room' feel about this?

The Disaster Artist

About three years ago, when I first caught wind that James Franco was planning to adapt Greg Sestaro's behind-the-scenes account of the making of the worst film ever made (Tommy Wiseau's The Room, in which he co-starred) I was worried that a great cinematic treasure was about to be ruined.

It didn't surprise me that the material would attract someone like Franco, who has shown a predilection for camp and whose career at times seems to exist in air quotes, but for a diehard fan of The Room like me (it's become a regular viewing experience for me and my wife, even a poster for the film hangs on our apartment wall) I was apprehensive at best.

Then a funny thing happened with The Disaster Artist. It started getting really positive buzz. It was rapturously received by audiences at the SXSW festival in March, where it reportedly received a standing ovation. And now it's reportedly being positioned to be a potential awards contender this year.

James Franco

It's being released by A24, a company which has boasted a terrific record as of late, in fact they were behind three of my favorite films of last year -- 20th Century Women, Green Room and the eventual Best Picture winner Moonlight.

This most likely means that The Disaster Artist will be much more than the broad comedy many of us might have expected. With the exceptions of 127 Hours (for which he was Oscar nominated) and Milk, Franco has mostly played comedic versions of himself on screen, and I would never in a million years pictured him as Wiseau. His brother Dave Franco made even less sense to me as Mark, but perhaps these two have pulled off something expected here.

There was some poignancy in the book version of this story to be sure. Sestaro clearly has a lot of admiration and sympathy for Wiseau, who comes across as a loyal and dedicated friend, if albeit a woefully inept filmmaker and performer.

Many great films have been made about doomed dreamers like this -- Tim Burton's Ed Wood comes to mind. But will any of this matter to the uninitiated?

The Room is at best a cult phenomenon -- most audiences are unaware of it and very few would necessarily embrace its comic appeal. For those of us who do appreciate it, its genius is that Wiseau thought he was making a masterpiece.

Franco and company have a much harder task, they are trying to sell a good film about the making of a bad film without condescending to their viewers or their subjects.

I must say my early ambiguity about this project is starting to give way to full-scale anticipation.

In fact, the suspense if tearing me apart!