SusannahThe Room
October 14th 2010 07:56
THE ROOM (2003)
STARRING: Tommy Wiseau, Juliette Danielle, Greg Sestero, Philip Haldiman.
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Tommy Wiseau.
No one can be told what The Room is; you have to see it for yourself. The Room is the best worst film I have ever seen. It is transcendentally bad. It literally transports you to another realm as you watch it, and once it is over, you immediately want to see it again. I kid you not. The Room will change your life.
A project of passion from “visionary” Tommy Wiseau: he of the un-place-able origin and accent, who is the writer, director and star of The Room. You know you are in for a treat as the poster for this film is a green-tinted close-up, taken from above, of Wiseau’s face: his heavily-lidded, crooked eyes staring enigmatically out, giving nothing away about the content of his “masterpiece.”
So what is The Room about? Tommy plays Johnny, a banker, who has been with Lisa (well, it is 5 years at the start of the film, and 7 by the end of it) for several years. They are engaged and will get married soon. Except, Lisa gets bored. Yes, she gets a bit bored and so decides to cheat on Johnny with his best friend, Mark (Greg Sestero). Throw into the mix Lisa’s mother, Claudette (who definitely has breast cancer), her best friend Michelle, and Johnny’s not quite adopted son, Denny, and you have a deep and meaningful, intricately layered melodrama about the nature of love and fidelity. Or, you have the mad, adolescent take on adult relationships borne from whatever it is that goes on in Tommy Wiseau’s mind, and delivered in some of the worst dialogue ever committed to celluloid. It is so bad it is like a car crash; you just cannot look away.
Sample dialogue: Mark: “Oh man, I just can't figure women out. Sometimes they're just too smart. Sometimes they're flat-out stupid. Other times they're just evil.”
Reviews on imdb insist that it is a black comedy. But I am not so sure. The fact that it is laugh-out-loud funny does not mean it was intended that way. The film is delivered deadly seriously throughout. The first twenty minutes of the film seem to consist solely of the characters having sex, and the sex scenes are excruciating. Lisa and Johnny’s love-making is scored to the cheesiest music ever recorded. There is “romantic” foreplay involving roses, before Johnny humps Lisa’s hip, and we are forced to see Tommy’s back and butt going for it. Denny, Tommy’s creepy, teenage, not quite adopted son, drops by right before Lisa and Tommy plan on getting down to it. His does not get the hint to leave, and comes upstairs to watch.
Sample dialogue: Johnny: “Denny, two is great, but three is a crowd.”
Lisa, Tommy’s evil fiancée, seems to lie to Johnny purely for the sake of it, and is given no motivation beyond a state of boredom. That and Johnny fails to get a promotion, so can no longer offer the large financial security Lisa was hoping for. Lisa apparently works in computers, but this consists of only holding a laptop once. Lisa seduces Mark with music and candles (neither of which are present in the scene, but there is dialogue which refers to them) and wine, which is present, but which no one mentions. He feebly protests, but then gives in, they have lengthy sex, and Lisa decides that she loves him. She can’t let Johnny down by leaving him for Mark, so sees them both. Despite not loving him she apparently still marries Johnny, though this is unclear in the film (like a lot of things). It seems to be indicated by the male characters dressing up in tuxedos (for no stated reason) before heading out for some male bonding of throwing a football around (again for no apparent reason), that, and Mark has shaved his goatee. Lisa’s mother Claudette announces that she “definitely has breast cancer,” but no reference in the film is ever made to it again. Lisa lies, and tells everyone Johnny hit her, but no one seems that bothered about it. Lisa lies and says she is pregnant just to keep things “interesting.” The inconsistencies are phenomenal. The Room feels like it was made by someone who was really not sure how to make movies, but really wanted to create one.
Tommy Wiseau himself is simply amazing. He has a bizarre face that looks like he went to Thailand for a budget facelift. The creases in the corners of his eyes go all the way to his hairline. He has masses of strange, curly black hair, and his accent sounds like it is from somewhere in Europe, although his bios all insist he was raised in America, and is an American. He positively howls his dialogue, with anguished cries of classics such as: “You are tearing me apart, Lisa!” eliciting nothing but cheers from the audience. The film is addictive; you know it is bad for you, but you just can’t help yourself.
Sample dialogue: Johnny: I did not hit her, it's not true! It's bullshit! I did not hit her! I did *not*. Oh hi, Mark.
Endless shots of San Francisco establish that the events of The Room take place there, but it was actually filmed in Wiseau studios in L.A. The green-screen background of the rooftop should get a special mention as well for the notable drama that takes places there, and for simple being a great place to “think.” The character of the psychologist comes and goes, without, it seems, being able to deliver any advice about how the characters ought to solve their problems. Although, for that they really needed the help of a psychiatrist, but who’s counting? Johnny and Lisa seem incapable of talking, despite having been in a relationship for a while. In fact, whenever anyone wants to discuss something, the other character is guaranteed to declare that they “don’t want to talk about it!”
The Room is a feast of bad acting, bad direction, bad cinematography, bad dialogue – it even has bad costumes! Yet somehow it all combines to reach a level of genius that few films achieve. Wiseau has somehow crafted the ultimate worst film of all time. I am already planning on seeing it again. Clips are available on YouTube, but you really need to experience the whole thing. You need to pay a visit to The Room.
Watch a clip from it on YouTube:
The Room - rooftop scene.
STARRING: Tommy Wiseau, Juliette Danielle, Greg Sestero, Philip Haldiman.
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Tommy Wiseau.
The Room poster
No one can be told what The Room is; you have to see it for yourself. The Room is the best worst film I have ever seen. It is transcendentally bad. It literally transports you to another realm as you watch it, and once it is over, you immediately want to see it again. I kid you not. The Room will change your life.
A project of passion from “visionary” Tommy Wiseau: he of the un-place-able origin and accent, who is the writer, director and star of The Room. You know you are in for a treat as the poster for this film is a green-tinted close-up, taken from above, of Wiseau’s face: his heavily-lidded, crooked eyes staring enigmatically out, giving nothing away about the content of his “masterpiece.”
So what is The Room about? Tommy plays Johnny, a banker, who has been with Lisa (well, it is 5 years at the start of the film, and 7 by the end of it) for several years. They are engaged and will get married soon. Except, Lisa gets bored. Yes, she gets a bit bored and so decides to cheat on Johnny with his best friend, Mark (Greg Sestero). Throw into the mix Lisa’s mother, Claudette (who definitely has breast cancer), her best friend Michelle, and Johnny’s not quite adopted son, Denny, and you have a deep and meaningful, intricately layered melodrama about the nature of love and fidelity. Or, you have the mad, adolescent take on adult relationships borne from whatever it is that goes on in Tommy Wiseau’s mind, and delivered in some of the worst dialogue ever committed to celluloid. It is so bad it is like a car crash; you just cannot look away.
Sample dialogue: Mark: “Oh man, I just can't figure women out. Sometimes they're just too smart. Sometimes they're flat-out stupid. Other times they're just evil.”
Reviews on imdb insist that it is a black comedy. But I am not so sure. The fact that it is laugh-out-loud funny does not mean it was intended that way. The film is delivered deadly seriously throughout. The first twenty minutes of the film seem to consist solely of the characters having sex, and the sex scenes are excruciating. Lisa and Johnny’s love-making is scored to the cheesiest music ever recorded. There is “romantic” foreplay involving roses, before Johnny humps Lisa’s hip, and we are forced to see Tommy’s back and butt going for it. Denny, Tommy’s creepy, teenage, not quite adopted son, drops by right before Lisa and Tommy plan on getting down to it. His does not get the hint to leave, and comes upstairs to watch.
Sample dialogue: Johnny: “Denny, two is great, but three is a crowd.”
Lisa, Tommy’s evil fiancée, seems to lie to Johnny purely for the sake of it, and is given no motivation beyond a state of boredom. That and Johnny fails to get a promotion, so can no longer offer the large financial security Lisa was hoping for. Lisa apparently works in computers, but this consists of only holding a laptop once. Lisa seduces Mark with music and candles (neither of which are present in the scene, but there is dialogue which refers to them) and wine, which is present, but which no one mentions. He feebly protests, but then gives in, they have lengthy sex, and Lisa decides that she loves him. She can’t let Johnny down by leaving him for Mark, so sees them both. Despite not loving him she apparently still marries Johnny, though this is unclear in the film (like a lot of things). It seems to be indicated by the male characters dressing up in tuxedos (for no stated reason) before heading out for some male bonding of throwing a football around (again for no apparent reason), that, and Mark has shaved his goatee. Lisa’s mother Claudette announces that she “definitely has breast cancer,” but no reference in the film is ever made to it again. Lisa lies, and tells everyone Johnny hit her, but no one seems that bothered about it. Lisa lies and says she is pregnant just to keep things “interesting.” The inconsistencies are phenomenal. The Room feels like it was made by someone who was really not sure how to make movies, but really wanted to create one.
Tommy Wiseau himself is simply amazing. He has a bizarre face that looks like he went to Thailand for a budget facelift. The creases in the corners of his eyes go all the way to his hairline. He has masses of strange, curly black hair, and his accent sounds like it is from somewhere in Europe, although his bios all insist he was raised in America, and is an American. He positively howls his dialogue, with anguished cries of classics such as: “You are tearing me apart, Lisa!” eliciting nothing but cheers from the audience. The film is addictive; you know it is bad for you, but you just can’t help yourself.
Sample dialogue: Johnny: I did not hit her, it's not true! It's bullshit! I did not hit her! I did *not*. Oh hi, Mark.
Endless shots of San Francisco establish that the events of The Room take place there, but it was actually filmed in Wiseau studios in L.A. The green-screen background of the rooftop should get a special mention as well for the notable drama that takes places there, and for simple being a great place to “think.” The character of the psychologist comes and goes, without, it seems, being able to deliver any advice about how the characters ought to solve their problems. Although, for that they really needed the help of a psychiatrist, but who’s counting? Johnny and Lisa seem incapable of talking, despite having been in a relationship for a while. In fact, whenever anyone wants to discuss something, the other character is guaranteed to declare that they “don’t want to talk about it!”
The Room is a feast of bad acting, bad direction, bad cinematography, bad dialogue – it even has bad costumes! Yet somehow it all combines to reach a level of genius that few films achieve. Wiseau has somehow crafted the ultimate worst film of all time. I am already planning on seeing it again. Clips are available on YouTube, but you really need to experience the whole thing. You need to pay a visit to The Room.
Watch a clip from it on YouTube:
The Room - rooftop scene.
| 67 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Susannah
Film Rant