The Room (2003)
"Johnny is a successful bank executive who lives quietly in a San Francisco townhouse with his fiancée, Lisa. One day, putting aside any scruple, she seduces Johnny's best friend, Mark. From there, nothing will be the same again."
The acting is so terrible and stale. The dialogue is awkward and doesn't flow. (I dare anybody to do a drinking game - one shot for every time they say "oh hi [name]" and 5 shots for the infamous "oh hi Mark" line) There is just no chemistry or emotion between the characters or actors. They just seem like a bunch of fake friends pretending to like each other. The characters themselves were just dry and colorless and had no dimension at all. The story itself is stupid. Maybe different story arcs looked good on paper, but the execution was poor. And to top it all off, there are a few more sex scenes than necessary.
Now that the complaints are out of the way, let me give credit where credit is due:
Everything that makes The Room bad is everything that makes The Room good.
Of course it's a bad film, but it has its charms. The story of the Room was flawed, but it really did have some good themes in there, and its obvious that Wiseau tried his best to get different messages across, particularly through the use of Danny's character. Hearing about the making of the film is interesting as well and adds to the experience (watch Disaster Artist before and/or after watching the Room). My rating is 3/10 - 2 stars for the attempt of making a decent move, and 3 stars for Sir Tommy Wiseau.
Tommy Wiseau gave it his all in this film. He wanted to make a movie, so he did. Though I'm sure the movie upon release was received poorly, he continues to work to this day and has many beloved fans that follow this cult classic. It's honestly inspiring that he achieved success, but in a way he probably wasn't expecting. As low quality as the Room is, it was at least entertaining. I plan to watch other Wiseau films someday, just to see how much has evolved, and to support an independent film maker who dedicates his life expressing himself through the art of film.
My Rating: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆