The Room is an enigma. Whether intentional or not, Tommy Wiseau’s cult classic is so horrendously awful it’s actually brilliant. There’s not an actor in the world that could recreate the abysmal acting within this vacuum of talent. If you’ve never seen this masterpiece, consider this your introduction.
The Room is more or less about the least compelling love triangle you could ever fever dream about. Oh, and occasionally a football is tossed around.
Fun Fact: The original Mark quit the film. Greg Sestero was actually a line producer.
As you might imagine, The Room perhaps has better utility as a drinking game rather than viewed as a piece of cinematic art. To discuss its vast array of flaws is to pick the lowest hanging of fruits there is. So I’ll largely avoid that. Instead I’ll simply marvel at the man who first breathed life into the totally fucked phenomenon — Mr. Tommy Wiseau.
Tommy Wiseau not only directed The Room, he wrote the entire thing. Including this scene,
Fun Fact: The Room started as a play. And then it became a novel. And then it became a seriously flawed screenplay.
One source indicates the original screenplay was so dense, the actors had to cut large chunks of dialogue through the course of filming. To compensate for the material being omitted, Tommy went back over the final cut and actually dubbed additional dialogue. Fortunately for everyone who enjoys laughter he had zero idea what he was doing in the editing process. Or did he? The audio displays very little attempt to sync with the actors in places.
Wiseau’s bizarre film has hit legendary status, screenings regularly happening around the country that encourage audience participation on the level of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Participants repeat all the major lines, “Oh, Hi Mark!”, and in a gesture almost as nonsensical as The Room itself, occasionally throwing spoons at the screen. Wiseau has a following and continues to inspire legions of fans.
Wiseau celebrates the cult following rather candidly, attending various screenings that end with Q&A’s. He views his creation as something that connects people, a vehicle to endorse love regardless of your opinion on the actual film. As evident from the racy scene where Johnny basically makes love to a woman’s bellybutton, Tommy Wiseau has a keen eye for love. Like right here.
But most of all, The Room is about relationships. If you didn’t already know, Wiseau’s character is best friends with Mark.
Like, best friends.
Thank you for your vision, Tommy Wiseau. You’ve inspired thousands to indulge their own weirdness and I think it’s a beautiful thing.
