Review: “The Room” (More Than a Bad Movie)

Remember the concept in The Producers? The classic story where producers figure you can make more money with a flop than a hit. And I think the best example is the following independent movie, “The Room.” It came out in 2003, but the way it was started involves a man named Tommy Wiseau, who wrote a book by the same movie name. So that book (and written as a play too) was then turned into a movie idea by Mr. Wiseau. The man somehow raised 6 million dollars, which no one can really know from where, for his film. My envy grows when he decides to purchase two cameras, one that is a high quality film camera and the other a digital average camera. While filming he placed both cameras next to each other because he couldn’t understand the difference. His script also needed on location changes, probably because the actors couldn’t understand some ideas. This film didn’t really see the light of day until April Fool’s day of 2009 where Adult Swim played a censored version that night. This awareness revealed a small cult following going on with this independent film where some cities were showing the film on the last Friday of every month at a midnight screening. A movie filled with so many plot holes, bad acting and odd lines that it became a hilarious film to watch with a group of people. My cousins hosted movie nights where a group of us would watch this film. Some would laugh, others wished to leave the room and many were scarred by the film. I couldn’t stand the movie at first but it grew on me as more and more I recited lines or funny moments with my friends. The midnight screening was an experience of its own, the first time I went to the theatre back in May, the screening was already sold out. A huge line formed leaving me and my friends in shock of how many people liked this movie like we do. Then in the summer, we went again, this time prepared with online bought tickets and getting on line early. So early that we were the first ones there on line. But watching the movie in a full sized theater is what makes it so much fun. First off, there’s an actual live band that plays whenever there’s a love scene (and there are several very unusual and hilarious love scenes). The audience sings along and discovering the actual lyrics is profound and so funny too. Then the excitement comes when on the screen, one character stands next to a small table with framed pictures on it. For some reason the pictures are of spoons, and this isn’t easily noticeable but when this is shown, the whole audience screams “SPOONS” and throws plastic spoons at the big screen. It turns into a spoon war, with missiles flying over your head, landing everywhere and sometimes you throw back and have little battles with the people behind you. The theater room was large and had 4 levels so many spoons reached the bottom level seats. It’s so much fun being in such an active audience, no other movie I’ve been to has that. When the lights go back on, you can see spoons covering the floor and even some under your seat. It’s amazing also to find so much more weird stuff I never noticed before in the movie that people point out or laugh at. And it makes one feel that they’re not alone in enjoying such a horrible movie. This is a huge example on how a bad film can create such an amazing response that makes one question if it really is so bad after all.

The Verdict

• Must See!
• Not Bad.
• Rent It.
• Must Miss!