“Everybody betrayed me! I fed up with this world!”

Tommy Wiseau’s The Room (1998) defies description.  Wiseau-Films would have you believe that this movie is “an electrifying American black comedy about love, passion, betrayal and lies” on par with the work of Tennessee Williams. Critics marveled at the unrelenting awfulness of the film– from the gaping plot holes and poorly dubbed dialog, to the egregious use of a greens screen and the bafflingly bad acting (”When Wiseau speaks in The Room, he sounds like Borat trying to do an impression of Christopher Walken playing a mental patient”, IFC). An anonymous cast member claimed the film was intended to be a drama and that Wiseau has repackaged The Room as a comedy in order to make “the best of an extremely bad job” (EW).

Whether you think it’s uproariously funny, extraordinarily bad or a strange combination of the two, there is no denying that The Room has cult appeal.  Midnight shows of the film are staged with Rocky Horror Picture Show-like participation from zealous audience members. And a particularly exemplary clip went viral in 2003 and achieved official meme status from the folks at Know Your Meme. Just Google “You’re tearing me apart, Lisa!” and you’ll see not only how far-reaching the meme is, but have an opportunity to see Wiseau at his “best”.

This entry was posted by Jennifer on Monday, February 21st, 2011 at 8:00 am and is filed under Movie Monday.
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