Tommy Wiseau's 'The Room' has become a cult movie. Not because its good, because its hilariously bad!This movie has a dedicated following in America, with a cinema in New York screening it weekly to packed audiences. It truly is an incredible film to experience and one I would certainly like to watch with a large group of people.
What little story there is revolves around Johnny (played by director, producer, writer... tea boy, Tommy Wiseau) and his cheating fiance Lisa. She has an affair with Johnny's best friend Mark and also spreads a false accusation that Johnny hit her. Johnny eventually finds out, they have a fight, then he shoots himself in the head... THE END.
What makes this such an enjoyable movie to watch is the overall quality (or lack of).
The script is hilarious. Most scenes start with at least one of the characters saying "Hi" to someone in the room. Very quickly I learnt the names of each of the characters in the film, something I can't usually do with on my first viewing . By the end of The Room both my friend Dez and myself were shouting each members name as they entered the screen, it was a fun thing to do.
Lets get onto the acting as this is some of the finest I have ever seen. I'm not sure which part of the world Tommy Wiseau comes from but its plain to tell English isn't his native tongue. This adds to the comedy aspect of the film. The scene below is a great example of this.
Apart from Johnny, Denny (Philip Haldiman) is a character to look out for. He's a creepy kid that just seems to appear in scenes randomly and apparently likes to watch Johnny & Lisa together. We decided he was a ninja and was in every scene of the film, hiding in the shadows or in clear sight.
Take a look at the scenery in Johnny & Lisa's apartment. They have framed photos of cutlery, knifes, forks, the lot! I don't think anyone truly understands whats going on here, perhaps Johnny works at a cutlery factory he's very proud of his work? We never see what he does for a living so it could be a possibility. [EDIT: I think he works at a bank actually] When 'The Room' is shown at certain screens in America, the audience is given plastic cutlery to sling whenever cutlery is seen. Its brilliant, interactive cinema at its best!
Tommy Wiseau apparently pretends he made the film awful on purpose but I don't think he's cleaver enough to pull that off. However, a bad film like this hasn't exactly killed his career. Even though Tommy hasn't made another film since 2004's Homeless in America documentary he's still doing the American convention circuits (off the cult success of The Room) as a celebrity!
I can appreciate people not wanting to waste time watching The Room but if you're a movie buff, and enjoy picking holes in poor films I couldn't recommend this enough. Seriously, get a bunch of mates together and some drinks, put this on, you'll have an entertaining time - guaranteed!
RATING
- As a film it stinks.
- For entertainment value alone its one of the best films ever!
