An hilarious and oddly touching film about the making of The Room (based on Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell's book) with an almost scarily good performance from James Franco as Tommy Wiseau.

Crucially, what could have merely been a point and laugh exercise at the creation of a cinematic turkey is turned into a fairly sincere look at an underdog realising his vision against the odds and the wannabe actor carried along in his wake. Sure, it doesn't shy away from the absurdities of both Tommy and the film he made, but by the end you're just as likely to feel sorry for Tommy and Greg as wanting to laugh at them.

An obvious comparison is Ed Wood, with James Franco and writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H Weber taking a similar approach to Tim Burton in his heartfelt depiction of a Hollywood outsider convinced he's making a future classic.

As well as a great performance from James Franco the rest of the cast is also impressive. Dave Franco as Greg Sestero has the unenviable task of playing most of his scenes against his brother's larger than life performance but does a fine job. The supporting cast also includes excellent turns from Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Ari Graynor, Jacki Weaver, Zac Efron and Josh Hutcherson. While, rather fittingly, all three presenters of the bad movie podcast How Did This Get Made? (Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas and June Diane Raphael) make an appearance. Plus there are plenty of one scene cameos from some surprisingly big names

Quite how this will play to those who haven't experienced the questionable joys of The Room I couldn't say but those who have will find much to enjoy, especially the painstaking recreation of many of its 'iconic' scenes (a scene by scene comparison over the end credits shows just how meticulous they were). Overall though I suspect it will prove funny enough to play to any audience.

Oh and stick around until the very end of the credits for an extra special treat.