By: Darien Campo Staff Writer
Since the day it was released, critics have called Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room” the worst film ever made.
In a nutshell: when Johnny begins to suspect his best friend is sleeping with his future wife, friendships begin to slowly unravel, and the true nature of humanity is revealed in this black comedy cult classic.
“The Citizen Kane of bad movies” is a phrase coined by film professor Ross Morin that gets tossed around frequently. “The Room” has been mocked, parodied, remixed, memed, and outright torn apart by viewers all across the globe. But no matter how much derision it has attracted, on May 27 “The Room” turned 13 years old – and it is still going as strong as ever.
A year and a half ago I had the pleasure to meet Tommy Wiseau himself at a showing of “The Room.” Theatres all across the country still have late-night showings of the film, and crowds pack each and every one of those houses to share the unique “Rocky Horror”-esque experience. Even after all these years Wiseau still tours the world to meet his fans, and there seems to be no signs of slowing down for him.
Though a bit of a showboat, Wiseau is an incredibly pleasant man, and is happy to give attention to each and every fan he meets. His unique accent, peculiar looks, and mysterious background all make the perfect ingredients for a cult celebrity hero. Fans speculate about his movie, they impersonate him, and they even dress like him (I am guilty of this myself) all in an enormous rally around one of the oddest films ever to see the big screen.
“The Room” is, without a doubt, not a well-made movie. The writing is sloppy and inconsistent, the direction is laughable, and the acting is horrifying. For all intents and purposes, “The Room” is a perfect example of how not to make a film.
But there are thousands of bad movies filling dollar bins around the world, so what makes “The Room” different? How can a film considered so widely to be so bad experience so much success?
I think it goes beyond good and bad. “The Room” showed me that a bad movie is more than just lazy writing and sub-par acting. A bad movie is instead a lack of passion – something “The Room” has in spades. Behind the scenes stories, like the ones in Greg Sestero’s tell-all “The Disaster Artist,” reveal just how dedicated Wiseau was to his project. Tommy Wiseau dreamed for nothing more than to direct the greatest film ever made, and he let nothing – not his lack of funding, not his lack of proper crew, not his lack of support, not even his lack of fundamental skill as a filmmaker – stop him from realizing that dream.
“The Room” may not be the best movie ever made, but I would argue that it is the bravest movie ever made. It displays passion, power, and absolute love for the art of filmmaking. Everybody can find some part of themselves inside “The Room.”
Just like Tommy Wiseau himself famously said: “You can laugh, you can cry, you can express yourself, but please don’t hurt each other!”
Contact the author at dcampo13@wou.edu
