I like Franco the person, but most of the time when he's acting serious he just comes off like a retarded chimp repeating lines fed to him. I dunno if it's just the voice or what.
And yeah, I love actors playing fictionalized versions of themselves. Curb Your Enthusiasm is king here. JVDB was hilarious on Don't Trust the Bitch. Neil Patrick Harris on Harold and Kumar anyone?
So I'm kind of predisposed to liking a movie with a bunch of people I generally find funny doing this.