The Room

This film is completely worth seeing. A friend of mine recently said it was as if a deer made a movie about human interaction, unable to comprehend what it is to be a human being. It is hilarious.

It is also funny how many people actually see this as a real movie, and take the acting, story, and dialogue seriously. It's a sad testament to the state of intelligence of some, but that doesn't detract from the movies awful redemption.

There was no way this was made as a 'black comedy' on purpose. The ineptness present in ALL aspects of the film could only come about through an attempt to put Tommy's own high-school angsty experiences (probably) on tape. When the reviews trashed the movie, he pulled a Paul Ruebens "I meant to do that". The denial of the films obvious serious beginnings add even more hilarity. Tommy, we are laughing at you, not with you. Thank you for that.

There are a number of "so bad it's hilarious" movies out there but almost all of them are in the sci-fi and horror genres. "The Room" is exceptional in that it's intended as an edgy independent psychological drama. To see a "Plan 9 From Outer Space"-style version of that genre is even funnier! This film is absolutely bizarre. The dialogue is at once very childlike and yet it tries to tackle "heavy" themes like adultery, terminal illness, drug abuse and the like. As a result, it feels like it was written by an alien from outer space. And when you see The Room's protagonist, who is also the director, writer and producer, you'll see that he very likely IS an alien from outer space! It's absolutely unbelievably, jaw-droppingly awful... And highly recommended!

Forget all the three-line raves this movie has received (which all seem to be suspiciously similar in tone). THE ROOM is one of those rare laugh-riots that is so fantastically inept as to border on genius. While most bad movies offer a handful of terrible scenes divided by stretches of just plain dull, writer-director-producer-star Tommy Wiseau's film offers one moment of disaster after another.

Whether it's the made-up-by-fifth-graders dialogue, the deer-in-headlights performances, or the positively icky sex scenes (love those smushed rose petals on the chubby girl's back), you'll be howling from start to finish.

This movie has already amassed a cult of people who know what to yell at the screen and when; for a movie that's being self-distributed, this rates as some kind of crap-movie miracle.

Keep an eye out for the pointless insert shots of San Francisco, which give the idea of time passing even when it doesn't: one party scene, for example, features eight of these cut-aways.

You really can't believe how terrible THE ROOM is, but at least it's entertaining, albeit in ways that the lazy-eyed, odd-bodied, English-mangling auteur never imagined. Not to be missed.

Now I did not watch this when it came, I even avoided watching it until a couple of days ago. I wanted to see this before going into Disaster Artist (more on that movie on it's own page). Now before watching Disaster Artist I was thinking rating this a 1. Then I was like 1 sounds too much like so bad it's actually good, so I decided to go with a 2. And after Disaster Artist and some background on certain things, I'm willing to go for a 3.

Why you may ask? Well, if you watch this with a couple of friends or strangerrs, this can be quite the experience. It's not about quality here (certainly not acting or script, the amount of repetition is suffocating and obnoxious to say the least), but about an experience with others about a really bad movie, that was meant to be a drama. Well I guess it's still a Drama, but not in the conventionnal sense.

Tommy is really bad and it seems he has to be dubbed at times. There are quite a few "What the ..." moments. Tommys laugh is ... curious? Definitely very unique. There's no real story and there are 3 to 4 sex scenes in the first 20 minutes of the movie. But worry not (or do?), it changes pace from there. But there is nudity applenty, especially Tommys bare behind, and a strange position to have actual intercourse is being revealed too. Or at least a anatomically incorrect penetration spot if you want to call it that. Now that may sound just crazy, but some will find this very amusing.

You can obviously watch just Highlights of this, but you will never know how bad it really is, if you don't watch it fully, to get the full experience of things. The closest to that, without going through the whole thing, is the Honest Trailer from Screen Junkies ...

I've never in my life been more entertained by a film that has absolutely NO redeeming qualities. Unintentionally inept characters engage in progressively bizarre and unnatural interactions which seem to peak at erratic and unexpected intervals. The awkwardness of the actors is framed by strange pauses, jarring scripts and incredibly bizarre production techniques - there are ample 'deer in the headlights' moments, in which you can feel genuine sympathy for these people who are obviously so caught up in Tommy's strange and dominating creative control that they've failed to see any better.

Other filmmakers play with similarly surreal concepts - David Lynch for example - but this film lacks anything resembling artistic refinement, insight or self awareness placing it far from comparison. It's kind of like watching a train crash in slow motion - random, incoherent, disastrous, accidental and ultimately painful. The sense of alienation emanating from this film places the audience extremely far from being able to relate to what's happening on screen, which leaves a lot of room for uncontrollable laughter given the right circumstances.

The camera work and production techniques would not be out of place in many daytime soap operas, nor would the script and plot, but there is an undefinable quality which separates this movie from the sense mediocrity often found in such shows and instead casts it deep into the abyss of tragically bad film making where it will be forever trapped along with Wiseau's artistic integrity. This really is a new frontier.

It is truly awful, but I cannot recommend it enough.