I don’t even know where to start, so I’ll take it from the top and start with the man himself: Tommy Wiseau. He made The Room riding a wave of pure determination and bat-shit insanity, raising a reported six million himself and then stepping in front of the camera to be it’s star: Johnny. Wiseau is one of the creepiest characters I have ever seen on or offscreen. He has this severely chiseled face that in some lighting appears to have been crudely carved from an uncooked potato. Johnny looks the part of the villain but is a weird but ultimately nice guy being played by his fiance Lisa. She’s a cold, calculating bitch who only has eyes for Johnny’s money, and his best friend Mark’s dong. It’s a sticky love triangle being fueled by passion, if you can call it that. And we see lot’s of examples of this “passion” through many scenes of lovemaking of the Red Shoe Diaries variety. Complete with soft generic R&B, candle closeups, a sheer bed canopy, and a single. red. rose. Um, is it getting hot in here?
This love triangle is only the beginning of a film that has been dubbed “The Citizen Kane of bad movies” but it’s so earnestly bad that it transcends the title and becomes accidentally brilliant. Most enjoyable is the disjointed and ill timed dialogue which was dubbed in after the film (See: flowershop scene). Then there’s Johnny and Lisa’s home which is the center of all the action with characters popping in and out like a million Kramers to deliver a few uneven lines and then leave abruptly. “I have to go!” and “Don’t worry about it!” seem to be Wiseau’s favorite phrases. There’s also some random elements that add to it’s brilliance: Denny, a young neighbor with a secret drug problem and a major crush on Lisa. The male characters constant need to play catch football (even in tuxes). A green screened rooftop where people go to think or have dramatic confrontations and Lisa’s nagging Cancer stricken mother. This all culminates into the kind of coup de grâce ending that this movie deserves. “You’re tearing me aapppaarrttt Tommy!” Because I am so in love with your terrible film.
Director/star/writer/all around crazy person Tommy Wiseau will be making an appearence at the Ziegfield for the 8/20 midnight screening of The Room. Buy tickets here.
The Room is also playing 8/26 at midnight at Village East Cinema. Buy tickets here.
