Oct 7, 2024 07:30 PM
(This post was last modified: Oct 7, 2024 07:37 PM by C C.)
19-year-old Greg Sestero befriends Tommy Wiseau in Jean Shelton's acting class after Tommy gives a bizarre interpretation of a scene from A Streetcar Named Desire. Greg is impressed by Tommy's fearlessness, though Tommy also exhibits unusual habits and mannerisms; for instance, he can afford apartments in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, but he will not discuss his personal life or the source of his wealth...
After reading further about the strange and anomalous nature of Tommy Wiseau, I've become (sarcastically) convinced that he's maybe an exoplanet visitor in disguise. (Or just a "reverse promotional" genius.)It's not just how his film and TV works conform to some alien logic, or how he himself is indecipherable. There's the question of things like: How, given his prior background inexperience -- he almost magically conjured millions of dollars for a movie "disaster" that had no obvious financial source. That's well beyond the sums that Ed Woods was ever capable of conning investors into, for his projects.
I get the fact that The Room is another contender for "worst film of all time". That it is so bad that its flaws can be funny or hilarious to watch. Another cult film. But frankly, it was so boring to me that I couldn't get past the first 18-minutes.
What might help is first viewing an episode of the sitcom TV series that Wiseau produced back in 2015, called The Neighbors. Once you sample the awkward or eccentric landscape of Wiseau's "humor", then one might almost interpret "The Room" as not intended to be a completely serious film after all -- the perspective that critics evaluated it from. Armed with the meandering antics of "The Neighbors", someday I may make the attempt again to weather the entirety of "The Room".
Greg Sestero (who was an actor in "The Room") wrote a book about the experience titled The Disaster Artist. Which itself was turned into a film (I've yet to see it)...
Synopsis: In 1997, Greg Sestero, an aspiring actor struggling with confidence, first encounters Tommy Wiseau in an acting class held by Jean Shelton in San Francisco. Sestero is initially perplexed by Wiseau's over-the-top acting technique, unusual physical appearance, untraceable accent, and eccentric behavior, which includes a fascination bordering on obsession with American culture and a refusal to discuss his past.
At the same time, Sestero admires Wiseau's boldness and genuine enthusiasm for both life and acting. The two form an odd but affectionate bond as Sestero learns of the many contradictions of Wiseau's personality.
Sestero signs with talent agent Iris Burton; as he slowly accrues more acting credits and makes other friends, Wiseau grows jealous and schemes to earn similar acknowledgment (such as earning a SAG card by producing and starring in a commercial for a company he himself owned), and threatens to evict Sestero from the Los Angeles apartment he is loaning to him, leading Sestero to become uncomfortable with their relationship.
After viewing The Talented Mr. Ripley for the first time, Sestero is struck by how similar Wiseau is to the title character. However, when Wiseau also sees the film, instead of recognizing his own behavior, he is deeply impressed by it and becomes obsessed with creating something just as emotionally powerful.
He subsequently disappears from Sestero's life for nine months—during which their occasional phone calls frequently indicate that Wiseau had become depressed and suicidal. He eventually returns to Los Angeles with a finished script for his film: The Room, which includes a character, Mark, named after Ripley actor Matt Damon (whose name Wiseau had misremembered).
Backed by a mysterious, seemingly endless supply of money, Wiseau develops, produces, directs, and stars as the lead role in The Room, despite having no knowledge of filmmaking whatsoever....
"The Neighbors" can be viewed on YouTube (all six episodes are on the sidebar playlist): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3phUy1Pj...Wa3Q6JoyZY
