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157 out of 167 people found the following comment useful :-
It's like sitting on an atom bomb that's about to explode, 12 January 2004
Author: Brickyard Jimmy from Los Angeles, CA

I have now seen Mr. Tommy Wiseau's cinematic tour-de-force, 'The Room' three times. With each viewing, 'The Room' becomes more complexly entangled in and inseparable from my own life. I no longer know where The Room ends and I begin. It is, without question, the worst film ever made. But this comment is in no way meant to be discouraging. Because while The Room is the worst movie ever made it is also the greatest way to spend a blisteringly fast 100 minutes in the dark. Simply put, 'The Room' will change your life. It's not just the dreadful acting or the sub-normal screenplay or the bewildering direction or the musical score so soaked in melodrama that you will throw up on yourself or the lunatic-making cinematography; no, there is something so magically wrong with this movie that it can only be the product of divine intervention. If you took the greatest filmmakers in history and gave them all the task of purposefully creating a film as spectacularly horrible as this not one of them, with all their knowledge and skill, could make anything that could even be considered as a contender. Not one line or scene would rival any moment in The Room. The centerpiece of this filmic holocaust is Mr. Tommy Wiseau himself. Without him, it would still be the worst movie ever made, but with him it is the greatest worst movie ever made. Tommy has been described as a Cajun, a Croatian cyborg, possibly from Belgium, clearly a product of Denmark, or maybe even not from this world or dimension. All of these things are true at any one moment. He is a tantalizing mystery stuffed inside an enigma wrapped in bacon and smothered in cheese. You will fall in love with this man even as you are repelled by him from the first moment he steps onto screen with his long Louis the Fourteenth style black locks and thick triangular shoulders packed into an oddly fitting suit, and his metallic steroid destroyed skin. Tommy looks out of place, out of time and out of this world. There has never been anything else like him. Nor will there ever be. The Room begins with 'Johnny' (Tommy Wiseau) and his incomprehensibly evil fiancée 'Lisa' (played by a woman with incongruously colored eyebrows and a propensity for removing her shirt) engaging in some light frottage, joined by, Denny, (played with a deft sense of the absurd by Phillip Haldiman), their sexually confused teenage neighbor who is clearly suffering from a form of aged decrepitude. When Denny, who looks like the human version of Gleek the monkey from Superfriends, says, in a slightly creepy yet playful tone of voice, 'I like to watch!' as Johnny and Lisa roll around the bed in a pre-intercourse ritual revolving around rose petals, you know you are in for a very special movie. After a lengthy lovemaking scene (not to worry if you miss it the first time, they show it again in its entirety later in the movie) in which Tommy's bizarre scaly torso and over-anatomized rear-end are lovingly depicted over and over again as he appears to hump Lisa's hip, we discover that Lisa, for no particular reason, has become bored with Tommy's incessant lovemaking and decides to leave him. Just when you think the movie might lapse into an ordinary, pedestrian sort of badness, Johnny's best friend Mark, a man who's job seems to be to wear James Brolin's beard from Amityville Horror, shows up and electrifies the screen with a performance so wooden that it belongs in the lumber section of Home Depot. Incidentally, Mark is played by Greg Sestero, who, in addition to being described as a department store mannequin, was also the line producer on 'The Room' and one of Tommy Wiseau's five (5!!!!!) assistants on the movie. Lisa forces Mark, amid his paltry, unconvincing protests, to have an affair with her on their uncomfortable circular stairs. For no apparent reason Lisa decides that she is made of pure evil and wants to torture her angelic and insanely devoted fiancé, Johnny. Lisa receives pointed advice from her mother who casually announces that she is dying of breast cancer and then never mentions it again. But Lisa is determined to make Johnny's life a living hell, in spite of the fact that she, according to her mother, "cannot survive on her own in the cutthroat 'computer business'". But not before they recycle the sex scene from earlier in the movie where we get another bird's eye view of Johnny's ludicrous naked body. Denny gets into trouble with a drug dealer. Mark shaves his beard. Tommy gets drunk on an unusual cocktail made from mixing whiskey and vodka. Lisa lies and tells everyone that Tommy hit her in a drunken rage. A balding psychologist appears out of nowhere, offers some advice, then apparently dies while softly falling on the ground in an attempt to catch a football thrown by Mark. All of these seemingly disparate events build up to two cathartic moments. The first is when Tommy expressively yells at Lisa with the line 'You are tearing me apart Lisa!'. You will cheer at this line as you realize that the film has been tearing you apart the whole time. And the second is at Tommy's birthday party where the worst actor that has ever been born plays a unidentified man wearing a silk shirt who utters a phrase that perfectly describes the experience of watching The Room, 'It feels like I'm sitting on atom bomb that is going to explode!' The shocking ending will leave you pleading for some kind of sequel. See this film at all costs. See it twice. Or three times. Or as one kid that I met from Woodland Hills has, 12 times! See it until you can recite every precious line of dialogue this movie has to offer. Let The Room become your new religion and Tommy Wiseau your prophet preaching the gospel according to Johnny. My dream is to someday buy a theater and run The Room 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until the print disintegrates. I hope it becomes your dream as well.

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101 out of 115 people found the following comment useful :-
The Best Movie....EVER!!!, 29 February 2004
Author: houndog5 from los angeles

OK, that may be a stretch, but I have inside knowledge into the facts. You see, I was fortunate enough to have worked on the film. As I read the reviews here, especially the last one, which I am sure was written by our amazing Director/Actor/Producer/Writer, I felt I had to respond. Having the dubious honor of saying I worked on this film, has also brought with it the responsibility of telling the truth about what happened on set. Apparently Tommy had a lot of money sitting around and decided he needed to make a film. Not being able to decide what to shoot, film or video, we shot both. Side by side. Both cameras on the same head, being operated by one camera operator. We shot almost the whole thing in the parking lot and back storage shed (read- sound stage) of a camera rental house in Hollywood. I got the call to work on the show after they had already tried to start with another crew that ended up all being dismissed. I believe that we ended up being crew 2 of 4. The show never had much organization to it from the start. We were told it would be a 3 week shoot. At the end of 3 weeks we were exactly 1/2 way done. Crew calls were usually 8 a.m. tommy would show up around 10:30 or 11. Because he would take the HD video camera home with him every night, we had no choice but to wait for him. Since we were only in one room or outside the door in the parking lot, we did not have anything to do but sit around and wait every day. When Tommy arrived we would have to see if he was in actor mode or director mode. If he was in actor mode, you were not allowed to talk to him so he could "stay in character." Since he was in almost every scene, he was always in his "actor" mode. This also meant that he could not direct. Noting the huge delays every day and the fact that we were never seeming to get anything done, our wonderful script supervisor stepped up and became the director...at least he tried. One day he had to go off and do another show and asked if anyone else wanted to step up and direct and keep some script notes. When nobody volunteered, I stepped up. I loved it. It was my directorial genius that had tommy bump into Lisa as they were taking the bad guy off the roof! I will also take credit for the now famous line "You are tearing me apart, Lisa!" In the first 10 takes, tommy kept saying "You are TAKING me apart!" As the crew tried to keep it together, I felt I should right the situation and corrected the line. The crew was also instrumental in keeping the chicken line in. "CHEEEEEPPPPPPP, CHEEP, CHEEP, CHEEP, CHEEP!" We begged our scripty/director to keep him doing it take after take. Though the crew ultimately followed the original DP out the door and quit, we are all proud to have taken part in the making of this film. Amongst the film crew realms, we are minor celebrities. "Dude, you worked on that thing?" is a phrase that is often heard when The Room is mentioned.

I have the pleasure of driving through Hollywood every day and still seei ng the billboard for the film up and Tommy glaring at me as if to say, "I telled you I could make movie." For those looking for a photo op, it's on Highland, a few blocks south of Sunset. I know that tommy took out an ad in the trade papers asking "For Your Consideration", I only wished that I could see him on stage accepting an Academy Award. It would be well earned. Rumor has it that he has a vampire film in the works... let's hope so... I only hope I get the opportunity to work on it. I can only hope that The Room becomes a cult classic with midnight showings. I'll put my tux on and bring a football. Perhaps I'll stand up for a Q&A afterward and tell the stories I have so fondly tried to burn from my memory. My other dream is for the DVD. There are 100's of hours of behind the scenes footage out there. The camera for the behind the scenes material was always recording. ALWAYS! It will be awesome to see what took place on our set. I hope he puts it out there. I know I would buy several copies for all my friends and family.

Any questions?

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47 out of 52 people found the following comment useful :-
This film is like getting stabbed in the head., 28 June 2003

Author: RCarstairs from Los Angeles, CA

You know that foreign exchange student from high school who used to creep out all the girls with his clumsy leering and broken-English pick-up lines? Well, he's all grown up and somebody gave him money to make a film. Tommy Wiseau, whose accent could best be described as "half-drunk Croatian cyborg", stars as Johnny, the man with the most sculpted ass in all of San Francisco. His girlfriend Lisa, played by oft-topless Juliette Danielle, seduces his best friend, played by department store mannequin Greg Sestero. To go any farther with the plot would be overdignifying this laugh-out-loud crapfest. Imagine a two-hour episode of "Red Shoe Diaries" written and directed by Balki from "Perfect Strangers". Trust me, this is the worst movie you will ever see ever in your entire life. Ever. But is it pathetically awful or sadistically hilarious? What you think will depend on your life experiences and viewpoint. But we can all agree, it's a big, steaming nut-filled turd.

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48 out of 55 people found the following comment useful :-
The "Plan 9 from Outer Space" of chamber dramas, 23 February 2004

Author: NeelyO from W. Hollywood, Calif.

Forget all the three-line raves this movie has received (which all seem to be suspiciously similar in tone). THE ROOM is one of those rare laugh-riots that is so fantastically inept as to border on genius. While most bad movies offer a handful of terrible scenes divided by stretches of just plain dull, writer-director-producer-star Tommy Wiseau's film offers one moment of disaster after another.

Whether it's the made-up-by-fifth-graders dialogue, the deer-in-headlights performances, or the positively icky sex scenes (love those smushed rose petals on the chubby girl's back), you'll be howling from start to finish.

This movie has already amassed a cult of people who know what to yell at the screen and when; for a movie that's being self-distributed, this rates as some kind of crap-movie miracle.

Keep an eye out for the pointless insert shots of San Francisco, which give the idea of time passing even when it doesn't: one party scene, for example, features eight of these cut-aways.

You really can't believe how terrible THE ROOM is, but at least it's entertaining, albeit in ways that the lazy-eyed, odd-bodied, English-mangling auteur never imagined. Not to be missed.

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44 out of 58 people found the following comment useful :-
So Independent it's Cinematic Masturbation!, 26 February 2005

Author: Mroussele from United States

Tommy Wisuea the legend, the myth and now possible junky vampire has successfully succeeded in keeping "The Room" afloat for nearly two years despite its shabby everything. With the help of a lot of loyal O.G. fans (i.e. Scott, Gabby, and myself) and a lot of persistent advertising along with free showings, shirts, CD's and DVD's, Tommy Wiseua has proved that any movie, no matter how slightly excremental, can be fun as long as it has heart. And there is nothing but hearts, farts and euphoria with this film. Shot on both HD video and 35 mm on sets that seem at times to lack even a third wall, Tommy Wiseua masterfully arranges his all pawn chess set in the sneaky rhythm of Zappa's "Navial Aviation in Art" only to digress into a game of Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again Like We Did Last Summer" it is pathetic as it is wonderfully entertaining. The brilliant character development and exposition is explained through the universal language of sex, so in the first 10 minutes we know everything we need to know about the main characters and maybe a little more; such as Denny "just likes to watch." One of the hilarity of the films is its random spontaneity, topics are dropped as soon as they arrive like an infant being delivered by a man with Alzheimer and flipper hands. Such delightful topics include: Denny's drug problem, Lisa's mother's breast cancer, the missing psychologist, "the tuxedo scene?", and nearly everything else. The film was written, directed, starred, financed, distributed and who knows what else by the mysterious Tommy Wisuea. His masochistic passion for this film is unbelievable slowly pushing it from an "electrifying drama with the passion of Tennesse Williams" to a "quirky black comedy" to trick people into seeing it and plus so he won't feel too bad when everyone laughs at him. Cinematic genius is still alive in Hollywood and you don't need to be in the Indursty to make it. Let's hope that all the amateur filmmakers of the world see this film it will give them a warm feeling in their stomach before the vomit rises. This film gives young filmmakers hope once seeing it they scream "Hey I can make a movie too, what am I doing with my life!" Thank you Tommy for keeping Ed Wood alive in the common man. I have seen the film 20 times and the delightful crowd keeps it going with their hilarious comments, costumes, absurd props, and continual shock. I know that some of you don't understand what I'm talking about but someday I hope you will. See The Room again and again then scare your friends with Tommy's friendship. I quote The Room, "don't plan so much because it might not come out how you expect." My or Tommy's thoughts precisely.

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31 out of 40 people found the following comment useful :-
A True Outsider Masterpiece, 7 July 2006

Author: Michelson from Cinti., OH

Perhaps the best testament to the greatness of "The Room" is its utter indescribability, its curiously strong resistance to mimetic, second-hand description. Sure, you can easily sum up the banal, cliché plot, or approximate the mind-bogglingly amateurish acting and the hole filled, insanely convoluted, and just plain weird screenplay. You'll make yourself laugh as you quote choice lines ("Hi Doggy!" "I feel like I'm sitting on an atom bomb that's about to explode!" "The world would be a better place if everyone loved each other." "Oh hi _______!" "Chocolate is the symbol of love." "Cheep cheep cheep!" et al) and mime Wiseau's hilariously awkward motions and slurred cadences ("It's not true, I did not hit her! I DID NOOOOT."). You'll try in vain to convey the sheer weirdness of the incessant football playing, the hilarity of the jogging at the park, the brilliance of Chris R., the beautiful blue-screened rooftop, the horrific sex scenes that never seem to end, the mantra-like, gut-wrenchingly saccharine pop songs that accompany said sex scenes, and the inescapable, mind-erasing voids of Lisa and Claudette's mother-daughter one-on-one's. However, frustratingly for the would-be promoter of the film, these sorts of descriptions do little in the way of actually capturing the genuine magic that occurs when one sees "The Room" for the first time.

After hearing about the film on NPR, my interest was peaked. Soon after, I discovered that there were several clips of the film available to view on Youtube. After watching the rooftop conversation between Johnny and Mark, and an excerpt of the tuxedo-clad football game, I was sold. Living over 2000 miles from Los Angeles, I knew my only option was to purchase the DVD, which retails for about $11 on Amazon. Later that week, I found myself staring at Wiseau's curiously droopy face and preparing, at long last, to watch "The Room." Words fail to describe my experience; I was immediately hooked. Now, several months later, I've watched the film close to ten times, and I can say without hyperbole that it has become more fascinating and hilarious with each viewing. If you're reading this and you're on the fence about whether or not to go to a screening, or to spend the $11-$15 for the DVD, fear not – you will regret nothing. In fact, you'll begin to wonder how you lived for so long without seeing "The Room." Well, what are you waiting for? "DO YOU UNDERSTAND LIFE??!!"

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24 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
Come to a world where Mongaloids rule the earth, 7 January 2005

Author: MorganStable from United States

It's an awful movie. (slap) A wonderful movie. (slap) An awful movie. (slap) A wonderful movie. (slap)

I love this film. No, I hate it.

It's a totally brain-dead piece of drek. Then why is the audience laughing the ENTIRE TIME, shouting out instant classic lines like "You're tearing me apart, Lisa... Denny! ... Five! ... SPOON!!!"

I'm about to go see The Room for a third time in the theater, which I have only done when a film had Star Wars or Fargo in the title. Admitedly, nothing in this film works. The lighting. The set. The acting. The plot. The sound design. The editing. The music. Tommy Wiseau's freaky nudity. The comedy. The drama.

But if one of these aspects did work, the movie would be no fun at all. By reaching the nadir of all artistic elements, The Room becomes truly sublime. But don't take my word for it. As a thinly-veiled Tommy Wiseau himself says (typos and all), "I am just a movie goer that was delighted to find something different from the usual trite movies fed to us by the same group of Hollywood, that wants everyone to think and see things only one way...their way"

Makes you wish Mystery Science Theater came back on the air for one night only. Heck, with this piece, they could do it live!

E

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20 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Happy Accident, 6 October 2008

Author: Rogansi from United States

This film is completely worth seeing. A friend of mine recently said it was as if a deer made a movie about human interaction, unable to comprehend what it is to be a human being. It is hilarious.

It is also funny how many people actually see this as a real movie, and take the acting, story, and dialogue seriously. It's a sad testament to the state of intelligence of some, but that doesn't detract from the movies awful redemption.

There was no way this was made as a 'black comedy' on purpose. The ineptness present in ALL aspects of the film could only come about through an attempt to put Tommy's own high-school angsty experiences (probably) on tape. When the reviews trashed the movie, he pulled a Paul Ruebens "I meant to do that". The denial of the films obvious serious beginnings add even more hilarity. Tommy, we are laughing at you, not with you. Thank you for that.

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18 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
I watched with my mouth open..., 22 September 2004

Author: d_rockafella (d_rockafella@hotmail.com) from Las Vegas

If anyone actually watched this movie and walked out with just the notion that it was a "bad movie" they have absolutely no sense of humor... This movie is not a "bad movie," it is by far the worst movie ever made, and absolutely hilarious... It's not like bad movie hilarious where there's some really funny parts (funny for being bad) and the rest is boring... It's absolutely non-stop... My mouth dropped open and literally stayed that way for most of the movie... The sex scene, the completely nonsense drug dealer side story, the dialogue ("Hi, Doggy"), and best of all were Mark's attempts to stop Lisa from having sex with him ("hey... wait a minute... what are you doing... no, we can't do that")... I'm just happy I got a chance to see it, especially with a crowd of people that also "got it" ... I can't wait for the DVD...

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21 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :-
Behold Johnny: The Vampire who will show them all by recording what they say, 18 March 2004

Author: haxboob from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Well let me start by admitting that I have seen this movie 4 times now...dedicated lover of the arts? or dumbass with nothing else better to do with his time, your choice. That being said I will go on to say that I have figured out what is going on with the horror-fying truth surrounding The Room...or should I say The Coffin of Lies! believe what you want, but this movie was no mistake. Vampires do exist and his name is Tommy Wiseau. Come with me now as I take you down a path of some Bullet-Points-of-Truth: 1. First off, all Wampires LOVE to overdecorate with candles, rose petals and white mosquito netting draped romantically over the bed. No grown heterosexual man, San Fransisco native or no, decorates like that unless he has death for the innocent on his mind. 2. SPOON! Or should I say ancient device for killing blonde booby-licious girls. So dear is this ancient weapon that he has HIS photographed and FRAMED! 3. The fact that Lisa, who has been around Johnnys Vampire character long enough, has formed telephathic skills powerful enough to make an entire room full of people think that they should all go OUTSIDE in the middle of a party so that she can do a little sucky-sucky of her own (on the ultra-handsome Greggy Sestero!), then using her mind powers moments later to get them all, like cattle, to go back INSIDE when she wants to suck on some cake. 4. Unexplained Tuxedo scene - Vampires love to overdress and hang out in alleys playing football, or should I say deathball as the poor psychiatrist is lobbed the offending ball and ends up falling down and disappearing from the movie altogether. Play Psychiatrist with us will you!?

5. Vampires often use their powers to keep people off-kilter and confused. Note Mark always asking "what are you doing" and "whats going on here?" as well as Lisas inability to put her finger on what exactly it is that she does in "the computer business" that is so hard. Or the fact that Johnny's Vampire character makes himself dizzy at times and tells people about his non-descript "job in the banking industry" which he clearly hates because people in the banking industry steal his money making ideas, probably old-fashioned jealousy over that Ancient European banking industry hair style...long and black my friends, Not too obvious VAMPIRE! 6. Denny has drug problem, drug dealer Chris-R shows up with gun, threats are made and bad acting ensues, Johnny-Vampire shows up....Chris-R gone from movie forever. No goodbye, no "be back tomorrow for my money", just gone from scene and gone from our minds. what! huh? gotta get me one of them Vampires to deal with my boss and that bitch in accounting who thinks her donuts are so freaking great. 7. The taking away of deadly breast cancer. God curses old woman with it, old woman blandly accepts imminent death from it, Vampire takes it away. Gone and forgotten. No thanks necessary, I'll shoot myself later for having loved you all too much.

Oh theres so much more, but I think you'll make the connections on your own.

What does this have to do with Tommy being a Vampire as well? Honey please, that hair, he always wears black, you can't put a finger on his true age (45-62?) only a vampire could acquire that fright physique and we all know that Vampires like to screw their partners in the lower abdomen...hence the uncomfortable sex scenes where he savagely grinds her torso just below her boob. Perhaps she has a side-hatch we don't know about but my money is on the first thing. Look at this film differently from now on you will, black is the force behind the Wiseau. A bank account large enough to produce your own film to attract fresh life-forces, yes I'm on to you Tommy, and I'll be watching to see if you are secretly sucking the life-force out of the audience next time I go see this film. Oh yes, I'm definitely going back...it's free!

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