Welcome to Bad Movie Month '09 and the first stop on our tour to cinematic hell on earth begins with the current cult phenom that is The Room. This dreary little flick was actually made in 2003 but persistent midnight showings in L.A.,plus the attention of celebrities from the A to the D list,have caused it to become a must-see sensation.
So,you might reasonably ask"Hey,Lady T,is this really one of the worst films ever?" Well,yeah,it is right up there with Ed Wood's classically awful body of work-in fact,I'm surprised that he hasn't come back from the dead to claim some credit here.
The Room is the mutant brainchild of Tommy Wiseau,who wrote,directed and starred in this muddled story of several people who are supposed to be friends or lovers at any given moment. It's hard to tell since the focus of the plot wanders off more than a confused old man from a nursing home.
Most of the time,the film is about the relationship between Johnny(Wiseau)and Lisa(Juliette Danielle),who are supposed to get married yet Lisa is having second thoughts and an affair with Johnny's "best friend" Mark(Greg Sestero). One of the charms of The Room is the need to repeat certain factiods in the dialogue,probably so that Wiseau can keep track of what's intended to be going on or remember the characters,such as the alleged beauty of Lisa:
Wiseau spends as much time as he can in front of the camera,giving a performance that is mostly comprised of a cheesy accent,rapid mood changes and saying "hi" at the drop of a hat to just about anyone:
HI,DOGGIE!
HI,MARK!
Other bizarre plot points that are briefly mentioned and never expanded upon include Lisa's mother having cancer,a oddball character named Denny who has an angry drug dealer with a gun looking for him and whether or not Lisa is pregnant.
The awkwardness of the story line neatly matches the bad delivery of the dialogue,which almost has a zen like quality to it,if your standards are low. Also,Wiseau seems to love football since there are numerous impromptu games and tossing matches thru out the film. Maybe he just doesn't want to see a good prop go to waste:
One thing that Wiseau does keep his eye on are his drama queen moments,especially when the visible to even Stevie Wonder love affair between Lisa and Mark finally pops up in Johnny's view master vision of the world:
So,whether you dare to see it in public or download the Rifftrax soundtrack to go along with the DVD,The Room is quite the experience to behold. If you've ever walked out of or away from a horrible matinee showing at your local multiplex and said to someone,"Now,I've seen everything."-that statement can not be true until you've left The Room:
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