The Room

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

"You're tearing me apart, Lisa!" That's an absolutely AWFUL quote from Tommy Wiseau in The Room, the worst film of all time. Tommy Wiseau plays Johnny, a successful banker in San Francisco. He lives with his future wife, Lisa (played by Juliette Danielle). Lately, Lisa has not been faithful to him, as she has fallen in love with Johnny's best friend, Mark (played by Greg Sestero). Her mother, Claudette (played by Carolyn Minnott), & her best friend Michelle (played by Robyn Paris), are both upset at Lisa for this, stating that since Johnny provides for her, she should stay with him. Also involved are: Denny (played by Philip Haldiman), a neighbor who Johnny loves like a son; Mike (played by Scott Holmes), Michelle's girlfriend; Peter (played by Kyle Vogt), a psychologist friend of Johnny & Mark; Steven (played by Greg Ellery), a mutual friend of Johnny & Mark; & Chris-R (played by Dan Janjigian), a drug dealer to who Denny owes money. As all these subplots become unresolved, tensions between Johnny, Lisa, & Mark boil up, & they all come to a head at Johnny's birthday party.

The cast is awful. Tommy Wiseau's direction & screenplay is terrible. The cinematography by Todd Barron is atrocious. The editing by Eric Yalkut Chase is dreadful. The score by Mladen Milicevic is appaling. And the soundtrack is horrible. The reason I gave this film 5 stars is because it becomes so downright awful that it becomes a masterpiece. It's so poorly made that it's absolutely hilarious.

The story behind the film is even more bizarre. The entire story of the making of The Room was documented in the book The Disaster Artist, which was written by Greg Sestero, who played Mark in The Room. It's an absolutely fascinating book. The Disaster Artist was recently adapted into a film that will be released later this year, with James Franco directing & starring as Tommy Wiseau, & his brother Dave Franco playing Greg Sestero.

I saw The Room at an art house theater near me, which was showing it as a midnight movie. At the screening was none other than Tommy Wiseau. I met him, & it was certainly an amazing experience. At the midnight screenings, people yell at the screen & throw plastic spoons at the screen.

All in all, this is an absolutely awful movie. It's not only the worst film of 2003 (the year it was released), or the worst film of the 2000's, or the century, but of all time. But it's so bad that it defies what we consider to be bad & becomes a masterpiece in the process. It's certainly a film that needs to be seen to be believed.