Is The Room Really Bad Enough to Love?

Oh hi, reader.

This week, @cecilia_mcpeck from Instagram requested that I take a look at the cult classic, The Room. The film is widely regarded as “the best worst movie ever made,” and with good reason. There is little to no actual character development, the dialogue is as stale old potato chips, the acting is awful, plot threads are introduced but not ever ended, and so much more that I won’t list.

But despite all of this, people still love the movie. It’s supposedly the best worst movie ever made, after all. I, though, don’t even think it’s on that level.

I hadn’t seen The Room when I was tasked with writing this post. But I had seen The Disaster Artist – the movie about the making of The Room. I liked The Disaster Artist enough that I thought it warranted at least one viewing of The Room to see if I could appreciate it just a little bit more. So I watched The Room, and then just for a refresher, I went back and watched The Disaster Artist again, for said appreciation.

The Disaster Artist is a very good movie in its own right. As I said, I saw it before I saw The Room and really liked it. But I really do think that you’re missing something from your viewing experience if you haven’t seen The Room.

Watching The Room made me appreciate The Disaster Artist more than I did the first time I saw it. Director/star James Franco was able to capture the only redeeming aspect of the original film: Tommy Wiseau.

Wiseau is the writer/director/producer/star of The Room and is the biggest reason that it is so beloved as a bad movie. But there is a problem. Wiseau isn’t in the film enough to make it watchable beyond a first viewing.

His performance is so captivating – if that word can even be used when describing this movie – only if you know the backstory behind it. Yes, most people who watch the movie only because of the backstory, but I think the point still stands. It’s so obvious how hard Wiseau is trying to make it a great, Oscar-worthy film, but it just doesn’t work. At all. But watching him over act as he yells, “You’re tearing me apart, Lisa!!” is so endearing.

I don’t know just how accurate The Disaster Artist is, but based on what that movie shows, seeing the way Wiseau acts and how the film is written, it’s so obvious that he genuinely cared about making this movie. It’s like giving a kid $6 million (yes, that was the movie’s budget) and saying, “Here, go make a movie.” The movie isn’t going to be very good, but you’ll be able to see the passion and dedication behind it.

But again, when Wiseau is off screen, it is almost unwatchable. Lisa and Mark are extremely unlikeable and poorly acted, and they’re the focus when Wiseau is off screen.

Overall, The Room is just awful. But it’s hard to fault a guy for pursuing his dream and doing something to the best of his abilities. This is a movie that is memorable for its hilariously bad and quotable lines, but not really much else. Apart from Tommy Wiseau, The Room would just be another bad movie that no one saw.

If you have any other ideas for what you would like me to write about on a future Fan Request Friday, let me know on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook!

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