Film Review #52: THE ROOM
Film Review #52: THE ROOM
*This film review may contain plot spoilers, reader discretion is advised**
Imagine a movie so hilarious that everyone erupts into uproarious laughter at the same time. Imagine a main character so beloved that the audience cheers for him when he is happy, and boos when he is upset. Imagine it being made by a director so remarkable, people chant his name as the opening credits roll. Imagine a film checking all these boxes for all the wrong reasons, and you’d get Tommy Wiseau’s directorial debut, The Room (2003), a melodramatic romance film widely known to be the worst film ever made.
The premise follows Johnny (played by the writer-director Tommy Wiseau), a successful banker living in San Francisco with his fiancee, Lisa (Juliette Danielle). Having become dissatisfied with their relationship, she starts a secret affair with Johnny’s best friend, Mark (Greg Sestero). Johnny soon catches onto Lisa’s unfaithfulness, but doesn’t know who she is cheating with. He grapples with her betrayal, and attempts to find out who she’s been with behind his back.
Film still from The Room
While the film is rife with technical flaws, it is most infamous for its incongruous writing, offbeat dialogue and Wiseau’s bizarrely stilted performance. It is easy to understand Wiseau’s intentions of crafting a theatrical melodrama, but the garbled script, awkward staging and hasty character-building mar audiences’ viewing experience and obscure the underlying emotions arising from Lisa’s affair. Notably, Wiseau inserts supporting characters without adequate introduction of their identity, motivations and personality that would be integral to the progression of the story. Beyond these supporting characters, Wiseau seems to harbour a penchant for writing singular and random scenes that are tangential and irrelevant to the rest of the film. It comes with no surprise that the flow of the film is completely thrown off by these poor writing decisions. Even scenes that provide essential anchors to the narrative, conversations are at best, clumsy, and at worst, nonsensical, with no concerted effort to make these moments comprehensible.
Wiseau himself brings a weak but humorously exaggerated performance. Lathered in a thick European accent, his sleazy and inarticulate delivery of his lines adds to the abundance of oddities present in the film. As a result, Wiseau’s absurd and eccentric performance is often compared to that of an alien feigning human mannerisms, a common joke amongst fans of the film to jest at his over-the-top acting and unfathomable speech pattern.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to just how strange The Room can get: from the jarring errors in continuity editing and inaccurate audio dubovers to the excessively dragged-out sex scenes. Some scenes aren’t even shot in focus! Nevertheless, it still garners a loyal fanbase that continues to grow 20 years after its release. The film is one of many that has built itself a new reputation as a film that’s “so bad it’s good”, affirming its popularity as an Internet meme. After all, iconic catchphrases like “Oh, hi Mark” and grown men taunting each other while mimicking chicken noises took the Internet by storm as audiences worldwide compiled and exchanged their favourite cringe-worthy scenes on YouTube.
Film still from
The Room
I’ve had the privilege of watching The Room in a theatre full of people. The communal viewing experience is what I believe to be the best part about this film. Albeit unanimously agreed upon by audiences to be a terrible film, the ability to relish in the shoddy, nonsensical nature of the film with other cinephiles is an unparalleled experience. Viewers are encouraged to bring along plastic spoons to throw at the screen every time a framed picture of the dinnerware appears on Johnny’s apartment walls. Some cinemas even compile a viewing guide of common reactions to scenes, including chanting “Go!” during the excessively long B-rolls to urge the footage to go by quicker and greeting every character when they enter and leave as a nod to Wiseau’s awkward greetings. It’s an interactive viewing that embraces the chaotic, promising an experience that is hilariously enjoyable.
Film still from The Room
Is The Room objectively good or even average? Not at all. Sad to say, the film doesn’t have much going for it, with a muddled story presented alongside a set of weak filmmaking skills. However, if you can set aside the idea of The Room being a terrible film, and instead embrace it for the unintentionally silly and side-splitting giggles it may bring, the film can be genuinely amusing and highly entertaining. And after sitting through all of the comedic farce at home, try the film again at the cinemas. There is so much fun to be had in throwing spoons as a crowd.
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This review is published as part of *SCAPE’s Film Critics Lab: A Writing Mentorship Programme, organized by The Filmic Eye with support from Singapore Film Society and Sinema.
About the Author: Goh Kai En is a student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic studying Film, Sound and Video. An avid fan of local and animated films (especially the works of Studio Ghibli), he loves all forms of creative writing, and aspires to be a screenwriter someday.
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