The Room - Zach's Take

Where does one start on a film such as 'The Room?' How is it possible to distill the range of emotions this film elicits from its audience into mere words? How does a critic take the sheer revulsion of Tommy Wiseau's bare ass thrusting up and down and relay that horrific sight into critical analysis?

You can't.

'The Room' defies all description. It is at once a complete failure in terms of drama and craft, yet also a hilarious spectacle of a man whose ego knows no bounds. It's such a bizarre, almost honest portrayal of Tommy Wiseau's opinion of himself (and women) that I'm not sure we'll ever see a film quite like it. You see, Tommy plays "Johnny," a character who is not only incredibly generous, talented, and romantic, but who is also a victim of the world's inability to understand people of his godlike stature. *SPOILER ALERT* I mean, Johnny even dies in a Christ-like pose at the end. */END SPOILERS* It's clear that Wiseau has a very high opinion of himself. The great thing about all of this is, of course, that Wiseau's acting is such a mess that you would never understand any of these things about the character, which is why we have countless scenes of other characters recounting tales of Johnny's generosity and gracious acts. Wiseau's Frankenstein-like countenance really only conveys two emotions: general confusion and that fucking wacky laugh.

'The Room,' like all of the best cinematic disasters, is entertaining because of its massive failings. My personal favorite is the awful compositing work done on the roof of the apartment building. It's indicative of the lack of any creative thought present during the production of the film. If Wiseau couldn't manage to shoot on an actual rooftop, why even have the scenes take place on a roof at all? It certainly wasn't necessary to the plot. And that's what's so great about the film: the sheer wastefulness of resources on display. Apparently, the budget was around 6 million dollars. 'The Room' is why the terrorists (and the rest of the world) hate us. And I love it.

Maria mentioned in her review that she wanted to see what's going on inside of Tommy Wiseau's mind. I think this film is exactly what's going on his mind. His misogyny, his bloated self-importance, his contempt for anything resembling decent cinema. It's all there. Instead, I want to travel through the minds of the people who financed this garbage. How did a man who looks like a 1970's Eastern European porn star convince these rich idiots to part with their money?

The biggest tragedy in the cult success of 'The Room' is that Wiseau is now ironically hip. Any projects he makes from now on will be the result of him trying to be bad, capitalizing on his success, instead of being like the well-intentioned cinematic turd he produced here.