Cult Classic 'The Room': So Bad, It's Brilliant

It happens all the time in Hollywood: A friend has a dream of making a movie and wants to hire his friends as cast and crew. But most of the time, those dreams stay dreams, as the money to fund those projects rarely materializes.

For South Pasadena-based actor Greg Sestero, however, the dream became reality when his friend Tommy Wiseau managed to raise $6 million to write, direct and star in a movie called “The Room.” Keeping a promise he made years before when the two thespians met in a San Francisco acting class, Wiseau hired Sestero to be his co-star.

That should have been a happy ending, with the film either fading into oblivion or rising out of Sundance-style film festivals to become an indie sensation. Instead, “The Room” became wildly popular for an entirely different reason: it’s regarded as one of the great camp classics of all time, a movie considered so bad it’s brilliant.

Its monthly midnight showings at the Laemmle Sunset 5 theater in West Hollywood routinely sell out all five of the theater’s screens simultaneously, with crowds that have turned the viewing experience into the craziest interactive movie party since “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

The entire crowd will walk out for five minutes during an especially long and graphic sex scene before reclaiming their seats, or members will throw spoons at the screen whenever a framed picture of a spoon appears onscreen (that happens a lot).

But the film is a hit on its own bizarre terms, and Sestero is proud to note that this Saturday’s screening should be the biggest one yet, as both BBC and a Canadian news team are sending cameras to record all the madness.

“I didn’t think this was drama or comedy,” explains Sestero. “I just thought this thing is going to be wildly entertaining. I think with Tommy, that’s one way to describe him – whether it’s an acting class or hanging out, going anywhere is an entertaining experience.”

Perhaps Entertainment Weekly describes the film best. In a recent story, the magazine noted that even celebrities have joined the film’s rabid fan club, with Cameron Diaz attending New York screenings and Paul Rudd hosting elaborate viewing parties of the film’s DVD in his home.

As writer Clark Collis notes:

The Room is a San Francisco-set love triangle involving a banker named Johnny, his friend Mark, and Johnny’s fiancée Lisa, who is sleeping with both men.

The film does seem to be beset with problems. Various subplots are inadequately resolved or simply disappear altogether, including the throwaway revelation that Lisa’s mother is suffering from cancer. The film’s many rooftop shots feature an unrealistic San Francisco backdrop, thanks to some less-than-impressive greenscreen work. There are lengthy, un-erotic sex scenes, the last of which prompts a section of the audience to depart the auditorium temporarily in mock protest.

Finally, in one sequence, a sharp bone seems about to erupt from Lisa’s neck for no reason at all.

Sestero first showed interest in show business by writing an unproduced sequel to “Home Alone” that the original film’s writer, John Hughes, acknowledged warmly in an encouraging note after the aspiring scribe sent him a copy. He notes that “The Room” hasn’t ended his career, but has amazingly opened new doors for him, including upcoming roles in two films by Regent Entertainment, producers of the Oscar-nominated film “Gods and Monsters.”

Between roles, he and Wiseau hopscotch the planet hosting screenings in more than 30 cities – from London to Sydney – where the fan base has also rapidly grown. And while he’ll be in New York promoting the film during the Aug. 29 LA screening, Sestero sounds like he’s ready to defend the film for a long time to come.

“It was one of the three top-selling DVDs on Amazon a few weeks ago,” says Sestero. “We were at Comic-Con last month and it’s insane how many people know about it. All I can say is people are riveted. Except for the sex scene where people purposely walk out for a minute, not one person leaves their seats in the entire movie, even to get a drink or go to the bathroom. How often do you notice that?”

“The Room” plays at midnight Saturday at the Laemmle Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Advance ticket purchases are highly recommended.