In a year full of surprises, both good and bad, the most shocking thing to happen in 2017 wasn’t Donald Trump becoming president or the Houston Astros winning their first World Series. It was Tommy Wiseau inspiring an Oscar-nominated movie. The Disaster Artist, based on Greg Sestero’s book of the same name about the making of the “so bad, it’s good” classic The Room, is up for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 90th Academy Awards, alongside “traditional” nominees like Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game and James Ivory’s Call Me By Your Name. Will it win? Probably not, but it still means the guy who gave us “hi, doggy” could crash Hollywood’s most exclusive night.
Could Oscar gold be in Tommy and Greg’s future, though? Based on the trailer for Best F(r)iends, their first film together since The Room, probably not. But Sestero wrote the screenplay for his good buddy Wiseau, which is kind of cute. And hey, it’s Room super-fan and How Did This Get Made? host Paul Scheer!
Here’s the official synopsis.
When a drifter (Greg Sestero) is taken in by a peculiar mortician (Tommy Wiseau), the two hatch an underground enterprise off the back of the mortician’s old habits. But greed, hatred, and jealousy soon come in turn, and their efforts unravel, causing the drifter to run off with the spoils and leaving the mortician adrift. An expedition across the South West introduces wild and crazy characters through a series of twisted and dark foibles as both men learn a valuable lesson about friendship and loyalty.
Best F(r)iends, which was cut into two volumes (of course it was), opens on March 30 and April 2 (Vol. 1) and June 1 and June 4 (Vol. 2). Oh, and in case you’re wondering: I don’t know why the (r) is in parentheses, either.
