Ty Watches "Best F(r)iends: Part 1"
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Getting caught up on some other pop culture stuff that I haven't yet written about, due to sports stuff that took priority, I did watch part one of the new Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero movie, "Best F(R) iends", and I have some thoughts.
First off, as I said, I have only seen part one. That's right, they shot enough footage to make their new movie 2 parts. The reason I haven't seen part 2 yet you ask, it hasn't been released via On Demand yet. In fact, it will not be out for me to see until June of next year. So my write up of the second part won't be for another 8 months. But, I did watch the first part. My wife was out of town on a business trip and I decided that I needed to watch this new movie.
As you all know by now, I love the cult of Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero. I'm a big, big time fan of "The Room". That movie is a national treasure for how bad it is. It is a total mess of a movie, and I have seen it at least a dozen times, and I like it more and more each time for how truly, truly awful it is. I love the book that Sestero wrote about his experience on the movie, "The Disaster Artist". It was a nice look inside all the madness and how insane the making of that movie was. Sure, we only got Sestero's side of the story, but he told it very well. The book led to one of my favorite movies of last year, "The Disaster Artist". James Franco got the go ahead from Sestero, got the help of his brother and friends and made something truly remarkable. Franco became Wiseau. Dave Franco was great as Sestero. Seth Rogen and Paul Scheer were awesome in their roles, as script supervisor and a stage hand. Nathan Fielder was hilarious. So was Zac Efron. The actress that played Lisa was wonderful. Alison Brie was great as Sestero's girlfriend. Everything about that movie was perfect to me. So, when I heard that Wiseau and Sestero were teaming up to make another movie, I was intrigued. I am at a part in my life where I will find time to watch anything the 2 of them work on, fully knowing that it may be, most likely, terrible. I don't care, I want them to keep doing stuff together. They need to continue to capitalize on the massive momentum they have right now. Hell, I even truly liked the two of them recreating the famous interrogation scene from "The Dark Knight". I wrote a whole blog on how great I thought it was. Seeing "Best F(R) iends" was something I felt I needed to do. It also helped that the reviews on it, while not great, weren't awful.
So, I rented it and watched it 2 times in the 24 hours I had it on my TV. It needs to be said right up front, "Best F(R) iends" isn't great, but it is not awful. It was, for the most part, kind of forgettable for me, which was a bit of a bummer. But, I still found myself glued to the screen on my 2 viewings. And, I was drawn to the TV especially whenever Wiseau was on screen. The movie has a very basic story. Apparently, according to the internet, so who knows if it is really true, Wiseau wrote this movie about a time in his life when he thought Sestero might be out to kill him. I'm not bull shitting you, according to the trivia on IMdb, that is what it said. The story of "Best F(R) iends", real quick, Sestero plays a drifter who comes to meet Wiseau, who plays a mortician, in a perfectly cast role for him, and they start to work together. Sestero's character sees that Wiseau's mortician keeps fillings from the deceased, and he decides that he needs to sell them for money. He then gets Wiseau involved, and as one would expect, they start to fight one another, they stab each other in the back and hi-jinks ensue. Like I said, it wasn't great, but it was fine. You can tell that the 2 of them have taken advice from people on their acting. Sestero barely speaks in the movie, which is perfect for him. He is a lesser Keanu Reeves. When he does talk, it is short and to the point. Wiseau goes for it, as he always does, and I think he nails it. He is so creepy but funny. He is so weird, but I found myself rooting for him. When he and Sestero play basketball together outside the morgue, it was some of the funniest shit I have veer seen in what is supposed to be a "serious" movie. And while there are other actors in the movie, some who feel like they come from the pornography world, and then a dude like Paul Scheer shows up, don't really matter much to the plot. This movie is Sestero and Wiseau's vehicle. They are the stars and they are full front in the movie. Sestero did fine, but Wiseau blew him out of the water. He was a charm to watch.
The reason I am excited for part 2 is to see what he does. The way part one ended was so bizarre, no spoilers, and it was all due to Wiseau's performance at the very end. Look, I'm pretty sure that Wiseau and Sestero did not think they were going to make an Oscar level movie. Hell, I'm sure they didn't even think that they are making another cult hit. But, you can see that they've grown. You can see that they are both trying. You can see that they've learned from past mistakes, and they kind of make up for it in "Best F(R) iends Part 1". I appreciate that they are striking while the iron is hot. Like I said before, they are taking their chance and they are rolling with it. All kinds of props to them for doing that.
I recommend this movie, with a caveat. Don't watch this if you have never experienced "The Room", "The Disaster Artist", or know little to nothing about either Wiseau or Sestero. You will hate it. But, if you are like me and you know the lore and you've seen a midnight screening of "The Room" and you've watched "The Room" more than half a dozen times and you know the book and the movie made about the book, I think you will enjoy "Best F(R) iends". You have to have some familiarity with the 2 stars of the movie. You have to know a good amount of their back story to appreciate what they are doing now. So, while I feel like part 1 was a bit forgettable, that has not swayed me from wanting to see part 2, and wanting to see what Wiseau does next. Check this movie out if you know their story and then get prepared to see part 2 next year. I know I am.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty is game for a cameo in any film Wiseau and Sestero make. Need a pick-up basketball guy to ball in the background? Ty is your man.
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