If you’ve ever heard of this stinker before, you’ve probably heard it referred to as the ‘Citizen Kane of bad films.’ I can assure you that this is not the case. Rather, The Room is a prime example of what can happen when a deluded, wannabe filmmaker acquires enough money and a few naïve, acting class friends looking for film credits.Writer-actor-director-producer Tommy Wiseau stars as Johnny, a banker and overall popular guy. He’s got a number of cool friends, like Mark and Denny (a socially awkward teen/young adult who treats Johnny like a big brother/father) and a beautiful girlfriend named Lisa. Johnny likes to have sex with Lisa a lot and throw a football around with his friends while delivering exposition. Everybody likes Johnny.
But then Johnny’s girlfriend stops liking Johnny so much, despite having lots of sex with him. Her mother tries to convince her to stay with Johnny because he is rich. Then Lisa begins to have sex with Johnny’s friend Mark, who shaves his beard part way through the film. Lisa tells people mean things about Johnny but still defends him when people start thinking he is bad. Johnny finds out about Lisa and Mark and it tears him apart. Bad things happen.
If you have seen The Room, you are probably snickering right now after those two fourth-grade writing level paragraphs. If you have not seen The Room, take those two paragraphs as a warning as to the thought processes of writer-actor-director-producer Steve Wiseau. The man spent several years developing that progression of events and saving up money to turn it into a film. If Steve Wiseau can be legitimately called a filmmaker then every talentless hack that has ever published their sad-sack stories through a vanity press can be called genuine novelists.
Is The Room one of the worst films ever made? Yes, I believe so. Does it deserve all the attention it gets? Not really. If you keep in mind that this film was a vanity project funded by as-of-yet undisclosed means, you will more than likely feel disdain towards its enthusiasts who proclaim it to be a “so-bad-its-awesome” piece of movie-making. While there are times where the film is so bad that you can’t help but laugh at it, embracing it as a must-see only makes the incredibly vain Tommy Wiseau richer. The world really doesn’t need that.
But what is it that makes The Room so bad, you ask? The honest answer is just about everything. No, I’m not joking. Just about everything about this film really is horrible. The love triangle is boring, bland, tedious and obvious. The only breaks from this inanity come in the form of randomly inserted side plots that only play out until Johnny enters the room or is mentioned in discussion. They also never get resolved. There’s Lisa’s mother’s diagnosis with breast cancer, Denny having a run in with a drug dealer, and characters we’ve never seen before that have somehow gained full knowledge of Lisa’s infidelity and warning her and Mark about it. As I mentioned before, Wiseau spent years developing the story and script. Pause for a moment and let that word sink in: years. Frightening isn’t it?
From here, it’s difficult to tell if the acting is bad because of the writing or because of the actors assembled for the job. Common sense tells you that most no-name actors working in a non-Hollywood production are going to suck. There’s usually a reason they haven’t made it into much of anything and it’s their lack of talent. The cast certainly puts their collective dearth of ability on display with random changes in mood, no sense of how to work a set, and deliveries that are either over the top or virtually unemotive. Yet, the optimist in me likes to think that, as bad as the actors are, their performances are stymied because they were confused by the absurdity of the script and a lack of competent direction by Wiseau.
I can’t help but lay most of the blame at Wiseau’s feet. This is his pet project, after all. He takes all the credit, makes himself the star and makes sure to focus as much on him and his character as possible. How narcissistic can he be? Try three predominantly Johnny-focused sex scenes in the first 30 minutes (re-using the exact same footage for each one no less!), countless close-ups, and virtually all of the “best” lines being given to him. He also seems to have redubbed most of his lines to ensure that his delivery is exactly as it should be (though the dubbing is usually off pace).
There are three key reasons for why I won’t proclaim this film as the worst ever made. First, while it may be lackluster, there isn’t anything wrong with the cinematography of this film. There are no unnecessary angles like Battlefield Earth or set dressing malfunctions like Plan 9 From Outer Space. Second, as bad as it is, you can still laugh at it for its badness, unlike Manos: The Hands of Fate. You may be confused but you won’t outright hate yourself for days for watching The Room. Finally, it’s a matter of principle. This film was a vanity project, pure and simple. I refuse to give Tommy Wiseau any more or less credit and notoriety than he deserves.
We laugh at the things we don’t understand. Perhaps this is why the bad-movie subculture finds this film so endearing. There’s a lot of incomprehensible stuff on display here. The trouble is that you lose your ability and desire to laugh at it around halfway through The Room’s 99-minute runtime. Tommy Wiseau didn’t want to make a movie out of love for cinema. He wanted to feel important so he made a movie. It gave him control and a convoluted sense of importance and celebrity. He’s like Kim Kardashian and The Real Housewives of [insert city here]- they’re all reasonably famous despite having no actual talent or worthwhile skills. If we finally start ignoring these self-absorbed nitwits, perhaps they will all go away.
But then Johnny’s girlfriend stops liking Johnny so much, despite having lots of sex with him. Her mother tries to convince her to stay with Johnny because he is rich. Then Lisa begins to have sex with Johnny’s friend Mark, who shaves his beard part way through the film. Lisa tells people mean things about Johnny but still defends him when people start thinking he is bad. Johnny finds out about Lisa and Mark and it tears him apart. Bad things happen.
If you have seen The Room, you are probably snickering right now after those two fourth-grade writing level paragraphs. If you have not seen The Room, take those two paragraphs as a warning as to the thought processes of writer-actor-director-producer Steve Wiseau. The man spent several years developing that progression of events and saving up money to turn it into a film. If Steve Wiseau can be legitimately called a filmmaker then every talentless hack that has ever published their sad-sack stories through a vanity press can be called genuine novelists.
Is The Room one of the worst films ever made? Yes, I believe so. Does it deserve all the attention it gets? Not really. If you keep in mind that this film was a vanity project funded by as-of-yet undisclosed means, you will more than likely feel disdain towards its enthusiasts who proclaim it to be a “so-bad-its-awesome” piece of movie-making. While there are times where the film is so bad that you can’t help but laugh at it, embracing it as a must-see only makes the incredibly vain Tommy Wiseau richer. The world really doesn’t need that.
But what is it that makes The Room so bad, you ask? The honest answer is just about everything. No, I’m not joking. Just about everything about this film really is horrible. The love triangle is boring, bland, tedious and obvious. The only breaks from this inanity come in the form of randomly inserted side plots that only play out until Johnny enters the room or is mentioned in discussion. They also never get resolved. There’s Lisa’s mother’s diagnosis with breast cancer, Denny having a run in with a drug dealer, and characters we’ve never seen before that have somehow gained full knowledge of Lisa’s infidelity and warning her and Mark about it. As I mentioned before, Wiseau spent years developing the story and script. Pause for a moment and let that word sink in: years. Frightening isn’t it?
From here, it’s difficult to tell if the acting is bad because of the writing or because of the actors assembled for the job. Common sense tells you that most no-name actors working in a non-Hollywood production are going to suck. There’s usually a reason they haven’t made it into much of anything and it’s their lack of talent. The cast certainly puts their collective dearth of ability on display with random changes in mood, no sense of how to work a set, and deliveries that are either over the top or virtually unemotive. Yet, the optimist in me likes to think that, as bad as the actors are, their performances are stymied because they were confused by the absurdity of the script and a lack of competent direction by Wiseau.
I can’t help but lay most of the blame at Wiseau’s feet. This is his pet project, after all. He takes all the credit, makes himself the star and makes sure to focus as much on him and his character as possible. How narcissistic can he be? Try three predominantly Johnny-focused sex scenes in the first 30 minutes (re-using the exact same footage for each one no less!), countless close-ups, and virtually all of the “best” lines being given to him. He also seems to have redubbed most of his lines to ensure that his delivery is exactly as it should be (though the dubbing is usually off pace).
There are three key reasons for why I won’t proclaim this film as the worst ever made. First, while it may be lackluster, there isn’t anything wrong with the cinematography of this film. There are no unnecessary angles like Battlefield Earth or set dressing malfunctions like Plan 9 From Outer Space. Second, as bad as it is, you can still laugh at it for its badness, unlike Manos: The Hands of Fate. You may be confused but you won’t outright hate yourself for days for watching The Room. Finally, it’s a matter of principle. This film was a vanity project, pure and simple. I refuse to give Tommy Wiseau any more or less credit and notoriety than he deserves.
We laugh at the things we don’t understand. Perhaps this is why the bad-movie subculture finds this film so endearing. There’s a lot of incomprehensible stuff on display here. The trouble is that you lose your ability and desire to laugh at it around halfway through The Room’s 99-minute runtime. Tommy Wiseau didn’t want to make a movie out of love for cinema. He wanted to feel important so he made a movie. It gave him control and a convoluted sense of importance and celebrity. He’s like Kim Kardashian and The Real Housewives of [insert city here]- they’re all reasonably famous despite having no actual talent or worthwhile skills. If we finally start ignoring these self-absorbed nitwits, perhaps they will all go away.
RATING: 0.25 out of 5
