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Review: The Room


I am not quite sure what to say about this movie, except that it is shit. I never say that about movies, because I believe that they all have some redeeming features, and even if I didn't enjoy it, it is good for a specific audience. The Room, however, is not suitable for any demographic, and the weird thing is, it's not even so bad it's good; it's just bad. 

So why is it that it has a cult following? Why do people flock to screenings of it in droves, fourteen years after its release? For me, it's just fascinating. Sure, the horrendous quality of it makes it kind of funny, but I think it's really the intrigue that draws people in, the questions we are left with. Like, how the hell did this get made? Why is it so terrible? And what the hell is Tommy Wiseau's deal? I think the creator/star of the movie holds more intrigue for people than anything else. His past seems to be mysterious, with conflicting information about his past and how he achieved the wealth to create the movie in the first place. Do people keep watching this expecting answers? It feels a bit like watching the remnants of a car crash on the highway; you stare, trying to gather facts about what occurred, but all you can see is a written-off car and some broken glass. 



Like most movies that I see, afterwards I jumped on to imdb to read the trivia, this time with a desperate curiosity. I needed to know how this ridiculously terrible film came to be. I would recommend having a read, especially if you love bizarre behind the scenes stories. 

Ok, so I've said that the movie is shit. Let's try to analyse that. Firstly, the acting is atrocious. I wouldn't even call it amateur, because I believe that if you got a bunch of kids from the high school drama class, they could've done a better job. Secondly, it breaks all the rules of storytelling, and not in the 'once you know the rules, you can break them' way. The plot is weak, there are random scenes that have no effect on the story (Lisa's mother has breast cancer, as she nonchalantly informs her), there are characters, scenes and dialogue that seem meaningless. Some of the dialogue is repeated numerous times, which is so boring. Also, the sets are weird, and if you read about it you understand why, but it looks completely low-budget. It is just so hard to understand how this came to be, without the basics of film-making taken into consideration.

I will leave this on a positive note. This movie makes me feel hopeful. Really optimistic. Because if this train wreck of a movie can somehow get made, be shown in theatres, and actually have fans, then there is hope for those of us who wish to create things, whether that be a film, a play, a book, or whatever it might be, because no matter how bad it is, there will always be an audience for it. 

I decided to finally watch The Room, after intending to for so long, because I saw the trailer for Seth Rogen and James Franco's new movie The Disaster Artist, which is coming out later this year. The movie is based on the book of the same name, by Greg Sestero, who starred in The Room and is friends with Tommy Wiseau. I have ordered the book and am hoping that it will give me further insight into what has been called "The worst movie of all time". I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie as well, I love Seth Rogen and James Franco, and there is actually an all-star cast which will no doubt mean that it will be more successful than The Room could ever have hoped to be. 

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