YMMV / The Room (2003)

aka: The Room

• Accidental Aesop: As pointed out by H.Bomberguy, the film actually works very well as a statement on how bad relationships can warp your perceptions. Lisa's depiction as a manipulative, gold-digging harpy and Johnny's as an Ideal Hero suffering from the senseless betrayals and lies of everyone around him, is not at all different from how many people feel about their exes and themselves after a bad breakup. This interpretation is corroborated in The Disaster Artist with Tommy saying that he went through something similar in his past, and Greg Sestero defining the script for the movie as "an advisory warning about the perils of having friends".
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Enough of it to warrant its own page.
• And You Thought It Would Fail: As shown in The Disaster Artist, nearly every cast and crew member, aside from Tommy Wiseau, believed that the film would never see the light of day. This attitude eventually contributed to professionalism on the set falling apart as production dragged on. Also, Tommy's on-set treatment of the cast and crew lead to two directors of photography quitting, bringing practically the entire crew with them on both occasions, which nearly ensured the film would never be finished. Greg Sestero thought that even if the film was completed, it'd be direct-to-video anyway. Tommy held eternal optimism that his film would be universally loved and a box office smash, discussed for years to come. If you are at all familiar with the film, you'd know that Tommy succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
• Angst? What Angst?:
  • Claudette is dying from breast cancer? "Don't worry about it!"
  • Girlfriend accusing you of being a serial abuser? "I did naht het her. Et's not true. Et's bowlshet, I did naht het her! I DID NAHT. Oh, hai Mark."
  • Also, the scene where Mark tries to kill Peter but is forgiven almost instantly.
• Awesome Music:
  • The opening theme, which is surprisingly good.
  • The original theme, which was rejected for being too dark. Even if you agree that it doesn't fit the movie, the music itself is beautiful.
  • "I Will" is pretty good too, for a cheesy love song. It helps it was made by an American Idol finalist.
  • Pretty much the entire soundtrack is pretty good. It's rumored that this was the only part of the film Wiseau had no control over. Mladen Milićević admitted that he just couldn't do a bad movie soundtrack (even though he also said the movie was terrible - but we already know that).
• Base-Breaking Character: Lisa's mother, Claudette. Some view her as The Scrappy for her repetitiveness and bitchiness, and others tolerate her because her actress actually gives a shit, and she often comes off as one of the few voices of reason complaining about how stupid the plot is and questioning things that the viewers are likely wondering themselves.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • The guys playing football in tuxedos. The scene has no significance to the rest of the movie.
  • Claudette saying she has breast cancer. Not only does she announce it in a remarkably nonchalant manner, but it does nothing to the plot, and even Lisa herself seems unfazed by the news.
  • The chocolate blowjob scene. Made even more confusing since it features two characters who haven't appeared in the film before this moment. Even Claudette is baffled by the scene when she walks in on it.
  • Denny is practically a walking embodiment of the trope. He's an ambiguously-aged Kiddie Kid in the middle of what's supposed to be an adult drama, and his reason for hanging around Johnny and Lisa is unexplained. His drug addiction and run-in with Chris-R come straight out of nowhere and are never acknowledged again.
• Bile Fascination: The reason the film is so popular; people have watched it just to see if it's that hilariously bad, and most of them weren't disappointed.
• Broken Base: The audience participation in most live screenings. People either think it adds to the fun and helps bring attention to some of the subtler ridiculous moments (like the stock photo of the spoon framed in Johnny's apartment), or it's an irritating ploy to push the film's meme status and actually takes away from the fun, as some of the stupidest moments in the movie are drowned out by the audience.
• Captain Obvious Aesop: Wiseau claims the message of the film is "If a lot of people love each other, the world would be a better place to live." Considering he says this in the context of Denny confessing his love for Lisa, it's also a Broken Aesop.
• Cult Classic: The Room made a fascinating journey to become a cult phenomenon. In its initial release, it only played in two Los Angeles theaters for two weeks in the summer of 2003 and grossed just $1,800 (which works out to around less than ten paying customers per screening). Michael Rousselet of 5 Second Films happened to catch it in that original run, and he's credited as the person who began spreading word around about the So Bad, It's Good movie. Even after he pulled it from the theaters, Tommy Wiseau kept a billboard for the film up in a prominent part of Hollywood for five years, stoking further curiosity about it. Encouraged by the film's early fans, Wiseau began scheduling midnight screenings, and it became a favorite in L.A., where it still has regular screenings to this day, and in other cities as well. Not really surprising given how fascinatingly bizarre it is. Tommy Wiseau himself comes to these screenings to discuss the making of the film, though he does not reveal much...
• Designated Hero:
  • Mark, who puts all of the blame for his affair and Johnny's suicide on Lisa despite being equally at fault (at least if the latter didn't make him realize it), and both Peter and the film itself seem to agree with him. Mark also tries to murder Peter at one point, just for suspecting of him of having an affair with Lisa, yet neither Peter nor the film itself seems particularly worried by this.
  • Johnny himself is treated as a textbook Nice Guy but some of his bizarre behavior such as laughing at domestic abuse which put someone in a hospital, repeated shoving of Lisa, and his covert taping of Lisa to determine if she's having an affair instead of just coming out with his problems could paint him in a more negative light. Also, during his temper tantrum near the end of the movie, where he smashes up everything in his room, he throws a TV out of the window, without any consideration for the fact that it could land on someone, killing them (thankfully it doesn't, but still).
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Chris-R due to his actor's genuinely intimidating performance that is often seen as the best in the film.
  • "Doggie", the pug that is lovingly referred to as such by Johnny at the flower shop, for its odd yet endearing nature.
  • Peter, the psychologist, is this in several circles, giving some solid (and sadly ignored) advice partway through the film, and then disappearing before the finale because of his actor leaving after the filming of the "football in tuxes" scene. His character's last line? "That's it, I'm done." Some people even make him into an Audience Surrogate.
  • Steven, who effectively replaces Peter, is an out-of-nowhere character who is likewise appreciated for how he just begins berating Lisa and for pointing out how irrational Lisa and Mark are acting.
  • Michelle, as the well-adjusted Only Sane Woman, rises above her designated role as the Foil for Lisa and becomes the standout female character.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Sestero (Mark) is referred to as "Sestosterone".
  • Mike is the "Me Underwears" guy.
  • Fans of The Room have been officially dubbed the "Roomies" by Robyn Paris herself (oh hai, Michelle).
• Fanon: Some people assume Claudette told Johnny offscreen that Lisa said he hit her, which is how he knows about it to insist that he did naht. The tribute game rolls with this, as does one of the novelizations of the movie.
• Fetish Retardant:
  • Tommy Wiseau's naked ass. "That's no moon!" Excuse the full-body shudder.
  • This goes for all of the love scenes, which are overly-long and cheesy at best and nauseating at worst.
  • The scene of Johnny smelling and humping Lisa's red dress right before he shoots himself.
• Fountain of Memes: The entire movie is full of them, with the vast majority coming from Johnny. Just look at the Memetic Mutation part below for examples.
• Ham and Cheese:
  • Greg Ellery clearly knew what kind of movie he was in and his melodramatic performance as Steven brings life to the plodding birthday party. In fact, Greg Sestero (Mark) was the one who was responsible for getting him cast as Steven for this specific reason.
  • Scott Holmes (Michelle's boyfriend Mike) spends the entire movie aping Jim Carrey, clearly playing for whatever sympathetic laughs he thinks he might get.
  • According to script supervisor (and possible ghost director) Sandy Schklair, everyone knew full well what kind of movie they were making. Well, everyone except Tommy Wiseau.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The Disaster Artist reveals several behind scenes of the film.
  • As utterly pathetic as the Wimp Fight between Johnny and Mark was, Wiseau really was hurting Sestero as by the end of it, the latter had bruises all over his arms and wrists from the former's hands, which have apparent "cyborg-like strength".
  • The reason why Peter was acting kinda dazed and touching things a lot in one scene was because his actor had suffered a concussion and Wiseau wouldn't let him leave for treatment of it.
  • Sestero and any other staffs were uncomfortable about how Wiseau handled the sex scenes, especially his poor treatment of Lisa's actress.
  • In the film itself: Any time someone says "It's going to be fine". It won't.
  • Many fans and critics alike suspected that Lisa was a reflection of how Tommy Wiseau viewed women. His behavior towards women, on and off the set, in The Disaster Artist all but confirmed this, and with an implied reason: an unfaithful fiancee that cheated on him several times.
• He Really Can Act:
  • Each cast member, even Tommy, manages at least one scene of film-worthy acting, despite the lack of good material and directing. Lisa and Mark seem very disinterested sometimes, due to Tommy having pushed the actors so much they had basically clocked out in some sections. It only helps add to the film's hilarity and surprises when good acting actually arises.
    • Julliette (Lisa) pulls off the sex scenes and her obsession with Mark convincingly.
    • Greg Sestero (Mark) looked like he might actually heave Peter off the roof.
    • Robyn (Michelle) has good girly chemistry with Lisa and is genuinely fun on screen. Her wide eyes and cherry smile help lighten her usually dull scenes.
    • Scott (Mike) isn't given much to do, but manages to make his ridiculous lines memorable to meme status. His underwear story is painfully entertaining.
    • Carolyn (Claudette) has arguably the most boring and repetitive scenes but she acts her ass off, delivering a performance that (if written better) belonged in an actual award-worthy drama.
    • Dan (Chris-R), the only non professional on set, gave some of the film's strongest, scariest acting.
    • Kyle (Peter) is written with boring, cliche lines, but manages to appear engaging and sincere. Even more impressive considering he acted with a concussion.
    • Greg Ellery (Steven) is unnamed on-screen, underused and unimportant. Nonetheless his awkward, random presence is perfect for the film's tone. He seems to have been given no instruction whatsoever and seems incredibly lost, but it's supposedly intentional due to the actor knowing how bad the film was.
    • Tommy's (Johnny) devotion to Lisa and subsequent breakdown over her betrayal. It's not necessarily "good" but it's his best acting in the movie and better than what he'd seemed capable of. His accent and sluggish movements still produce laughs however. However, his "I think you should leave, Mark." line reading is one of the few scenes where he's understated and it works.
    • At the end of the film, Philip (Denny) pulls off a really heartrending performance when mourning over Johnny's corpse after he commits suicide.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Peter's last line, before he left the film and got replaced with Steven, is "That's it. I'm done."
  • There is now a brand of underwear called "Me Undies." (Warning: NSFW)
  • One of Tommy's dreams was to see The Room win multiple Oscars. Twelve years later, the film Room won Best Actress. And even later on, Room's distributor made a movie about The Room! Even better that said movie got a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination — and "Tommy Wiseau" was in the running for a Best Actor nom!
• Ho Yay:
  • There's a bit between Johnny and Mark in the beginning, but it's quickly dropped in order to make room for the love triangle plot that drives the rest of the movie.
  • Johnny's reaction to hearing that Mark is dating a married woman could easily be interpreted as jealousy.
  • How about all the attention Johnny lavishes on Denny?
  • Bizarrely, the way Chris-R leans in toward Denny when he confronts him makes it looks like he's going to kiss him.
  • Johnny and Mark tossing a football around in the park seems much more romantic than any of their interactions with Lisa, since all they do with her is talk and have sex.
  • And the kiss Mark gives Johnny after his suicide? Possibly the strongest example of all.
• Hype Backlash: Despite its reputation as the "Best Bad Movie Ever!", some people just see it as a plain bad movie with no merit whatsoever. Others see it as an outright Forced Meme, especially once it started getting compared to The Rocky Horror Picture Show in terms of cult-like popularity and Audience Participation screenings.
• Improbable Age: To the extreme. Johnny, Mark, Lisa, Mike, Michelle, Peter and Steven are meant to be in their twenties and Denny's around seventeen (which is odd enough that he'd view people a few years older as parents). While the others are age convincing, Denny's actor was ten years his character's senior. The age of Tommy, playing the twentysomething Johnny is almost impossible to determine. Thus Johnny seems extremely out of place amongst the others. And it's too hilariously perfect to consider happening any other way.
• It's Popular, Now It Sucks!: Many bad movie fans who originally liked this movie no longer find this movie funny anymore due to overexposure, even considering it passé.
• Jossed: Dan Janjigian's performance as Chris-R was so unusually convincing compared to the rest of the movie that, for a long time, people suspected that he was an actual drug dealer. The Disaster Artist quashed that meme by revealing he was simply a guy who took everything he did very seriously.
• Memetic Molester: Denny. While he doesn't do anything outwardly malicious and otherwise comes off as a friendly person, he displays some rather strange behaviour. From his uncomfortably close relationship with Johnny and Lisa (especially his "I just like to watch you guys" line), and him outright admitting to Johnny that he has a crush on the much older Lisa, many viewers see him as more perverted than how he was probably intended to come off.
• Memetic Mutation: This may be one of the most quotable films of the Turn of the Millennium.
  • YOU'RE TEARING ME APART, LISA!!!
  • What a story, Mark!
    • Water store remark!
    • It's since been snowcloned. Just replace "Mark" with somebody else's name. "What a story, Greg!", for an example.
  • Ohai, (X).
  • Anyway, how's your sex life?
  • Its nawt true, I did nawt!
  • I show them. I will record everything!
  • Where's my fucking money, Denny!?
  • I just got the results of the test back. I definitely have breast cancer.
  • And she's showing everybody me underwears.
  • Leave your stupid comments in your pocket!
  • I just like to watch you guys.
  • YOU'RE NOT MY FUCKING MOTHER!
  • Don't touch me, mawtherfawker!
  • Everybody betray me, I'm fed up with this warl!
  • You're just a little chicken! CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP!
  • Football-chanting "Go! Go! Go!" during the random pan shots of the Golden Gate Bridge.
  • Waving up at Tommy from the right side of the screen during his birthday party scene where he randomly waves down to someone off-screen on his left is a popular practice at live screenings.
  • "Is! Nee! Store! Is! Nee! Store!" ^explanationA chant lead during the shot when Johnny is walking home through San Francisco, a Disney Store is clearly visible in the background, but with the D in "Disney" conveniently hidden behind some foliage in the foreground.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Any sympathy for Lisa goes down the drain when she decides to take advantage of her fiancé's suicide so she and Mark can be together.
  • Being high on pot doesn't excuse Mark for trying to murder his friend Peter.
  • Chris-R certainly crosses it when he almost murders Denny over the drug money he owes him.
• Narm: Almost every scene in the movie, with several achieving meme status. Notable examples include:
  • The line "You're tearing me apart Lisa!" is used as a go-to example of this movie's acting.
  • When Johnny says "Everybody betray me, I fed up with this world" in one of the worst examples of Wiseau's bizarre accent.
  • In general, a lot of the dialogue comes down to decent to genuinely good actors being forced into being this trope. Greg Sestero actually explained a lot of the Narminess from him and the rest of the cast at a fan Q&A in Buffalo during a live showing: "It was us reading lines that Tommy wrote and reading them how he wanted them read."
  • The Anger Montage at the end of the movie involves Johnny stumbling around and awkwardly breaking furniture in an attempt to seem outraged, yet at the same time, not wanting to wreck anything too much.
  • The dramatic/cruel/bitter/hilarious Irony of Johnny dying on his birthday.
  • Following this is the reactions to Johnny’s death, all of which are extremely awkward with Mark asking him to wake up and Lisa tearfully wondering if he’s dead… Y’know, despite the fact that he put a BULLET through his own head. Then Lisa has the gall to say she and Mark can now be together, a sudden and poorly timed rebound if there ever was one. Topping it all off is Denny rushing into the scene, wondering what has happened yet somehow is already in tears before even seeing that Johnny’s dead.
• Nausea Fuel: The drawn-out love and sex scenes are gratuitous and sickening. They don't seem to serve any purpose other than Padding. Tommy Wiseau's naked ass doesn't make things any better.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Dan Janjigian's performance as Chris-R manages to be genuinely frightening, especially when he's holding a gun to Denny's head and demanding his money. According to Greg Sestero, he actually scared most of the cast and crew.
  • The official poster for the movie has a Deliberately Monochrome close-up of Johnny's gaunt-looking face giving the camera a Kubrick Stare with his bulging, asymmetrical eyes. While it's meant to be seductive and mysterious and ends up looking really goofy, it's pretty unsettling, and made many people mistake it for a horror movie upon first glance.
  • Mark almost throwing Peter off the apartment's roof in a fit of marijuana-crazed rage.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Chris-R, for his frighteningly convincing portrayal of an enraged drug dealer.
  • The "Lisa looks hot tonight" guy.
• One True Threesome: Lisa, Johnny, and Denny seem to have a suspiciously close relationship regardless of being surrogate family. Denny even comes and hangs out in the bedroom with them for a while when they clearly are working up to sex.
  Denny: I just like to watch you guys.
• Padding:
  • Nothing between the second sex scene and the birthday party has any actual effect on the plot, with the exception of Johnny hooking a tape recorder to the phone.
  • While the film uses a lot of establishing shots of the city throughout, they become especially repetitive during the party, with four such shots of the city at night in relatively short succession. They might have been used just to denote that time was passing, but they otherwise have no bearing on anything and could have easily been left out.
  • Probably the most obvious form of padding used is that of having characters essentially repeat scenes with only a few details changed. This is especially obvious when it comes to Lisa and Claudette, whose conversations with each other are always about virtually the same thing, and with Johnny and his friends tossing the football back and forth.
  • The scene where Johnny confronts Lisa and Mark at the party is pointlessly split into two parts. Johnny and Mark even start to fight the first time, but then calm down and apologize to each other, only for things to heat up again right after as they duke it out for real. Tommy Wiseau also decided that Johnny getting mad at Lisa and Mark dancing together was a more dramatic moment to spark the fight than the scene where Mark asserts paternity over Lisa's fake child.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis: Few younger viewers know that "You're tearing me apart!" originated in Rebel Without a Cause, a movie that Wiseau was a huge fan of. Go to the comments section of the scene where James Dean's character says this and you'll see that most of the comments add "... Lisa!" to the end.
• Retroactive Recognition: Odds are that, if you've sought out (or even heard of) the film Retro Puppet Master, it's because it was Greg Sestero's most prominent pre-Room film role.
• The Scrappy:
  • Lisa. Given how vague the movie in general is, whether or not she's supposed to be sympathetic is up to the viewer, but many hate her nonetheless for being a selfish, stubborn Manipulative Bitch, whose occasional moments of kindness don't make up for lying to Johnny, framing him for domestic violence and generally treating him like garbage.
  • Mark for being entitled and outright violent, as he almost threw fan-favorite Peter off the roof. Him consistently acting surprised when Lisa starts making out with him was funny the first two times, but got tiring very quickly. However, he's less disliked than Lisa, for actually growing a conscience near the end of the film.
• Signature Line:
  • While the film has a lot of memorable dialogue, the most (in)famous lines are easily either "You are tearing me apart, Lisa!" or "I did not hit her! It's not true, it's bullshit, I did not hit her! I did not! …Oh hi Mark."
  • While not quite as iconic, "Anyway, how is your sex life?" is definitely quite famous.
• Signature Scene: Johnny's entrance in the rooftop scene with Mark, "angrily" throwing a water bottle while shouting "I did not hit her! It's not true, it's bullshit, I did not hit her! I did not! …Oh hi Mark." The cross of Dull Surprise delivery and Mood Whiplash pretty much condenses all of the movie's weirdness in one scene.
• Slow-Paced Beginning: The first half-hour is dominated by no less than three non-erotic sex scenes and zero character development. The flower shop scene marks the real beginning of the So Bad, It's Good part of the film.
• So Bad, It's Good: The film has become a cult classic for being so bad it's good - no, more like So Horrible It's Epic.
• Squick:
  • The rather graphic sex scenes between Lisa and Johnny. We see far more of Wiseau's particularly unappealing body than we need to. Actor Greg Ellery states that this goes behind the scenes as well. The actress who plays Lisa was only 23 years old, whereas Wiseau was 47. And There's more to it than that. Apparently, Wiseau wanted it to be realistic, so he actually was completely naked while they filmed that scene. That's why he seems to be having sex with her navel—he wanted to make sure he didn't accidentally... erm, get it in there. Worse, according to cast and crew, Tommy had... body odor issues.
  • There's one scene where Lisa's neck starts strangely spasming!
  • Denny: "I just like to watch you guys!"
• Special Effect Failure:
  • Wiseau insisted on using expensive green screen effects on fabricated sets for the rooftop scenes (which is especially funny knowing that Wiseau owned a store building with an accessible rooftop). Whenever the camera moves in these scenes, the backgrounds move with it - just at a different speed. The exact background is inconsistent and seems to suggest that the apartment is somewhere in the middle of the sea near Alcatraz.
  • The gun that Johnny commits suicide with is clearly a cheap airsoft gun and clearly never fires beyond a generic gunshot sound. Given what the film is known for, anything else would probably be disappointing.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: After the actor playing Peter left the film, Tommy Wiseau chose to create the character Steven to replace him, even though any other established supporting character in the film could have easily filled the role instead. The most logical choice would have been Denny, as he is the friend of all three of the main cast and would be the one most troubled by Lisa and Mark's betrayal of Johnny.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: If some rewrites were done and better acting/direction were employed, this actually could have been a very good movie... of course, it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. What would also have helped is if certain scenes were used to add emotional depth to the film rather than serving as padding. In particular, the drug dealer scene could have been more significant had it effectively been tied into the overlying plot rather than solely being used as an only loosely connected Chekhov's Gun to Johnny's suicide, and the issue of Claudette's breast cancer could've gone somewhere as well.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: When divorced from the otherwise laughable execution, this is a surprisingly bleak film. Johnny is a borderline incomprehensible and weird person who finds stories about domestic abuse funny, Lisa is incredibly stupid and/or callous, Mark is a douchebag and an idiot, and Denny has drug problems and a very creepy relationship with Johnny and Lisa. The writing and acting don't help, either. Some of the supporting cast aren't much better; Claudette is a sexist Gold Digger who wants Lisa to follow in her footsteps, Chris-R is a violent drug dealer who holds Denny at gunpoint, Mike does absolutely nothing plot relevant, Peter (the Only Sane Man) goes missing halfway through the film, and Steven just casually saunters into the plot in the last twenty minutes and acts as if we have any idea who he is. Michelle is the Only Sane Woman who actually bothers to stick around for the duration of the film, and that isn't enough to prevent Johnny's suicide.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously:
  • Tommy Wiseau, as detailed in The Disaster Artist.
  • Dan Janjigian as Chris-R. The Disaster Artist describes how the guy went as far as applying Method Acting to his role... despite being the only person in the cast who wasn't a professional actor and him only doing it as a favor for his roommate. As a result, he became a One-Scene Wonder who gives one of the few convincing performances in the movie.
  • Also as detailed in The Disaster Artist, Carolyn Minnott as Claudette. She had always wanted to act, and this was one of the only parts she could get. As such, she gave it everything she had, even nailing a scene right after being hospitalized for heat stroke.
  • Robyn Paris (Michelle) and Philip Haldiman (Denny) both manage to take their poorly-written characters and make them somewhat well-rounded, with some emotional depth.
• Ugly Cute: The pug in the flower shop is odd-looking, weirdly static (due to its old age), and gives off a strange vibe, to the point where Tommy Wiseau himself was unsure if it was a real, living dog, but many people still find it to be one of the most endearing parts of the film.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The establishing shots of San Francisco reveal that the movie was made prior to the construction of the Salesforce Tower, which dominates the present-day skyline and is the second-tallest building west of the Mississippi river.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Johnny, who comes off as creepily obsessive and a douchebag rather than the model husband Tommy Wiseau intended him as. For instance, he laughs at the thought of a woman getting beaten up and going to the hospital (and it's not one of those awkward, WTF "are you serious?" laughs), and later on, while claiming he never hit Lisa, he shoves her onto the couch when she is ready to walk away. This has Reality Subtext as revealed in The Disaster Artist. Wiseau actually had to be told by the crew that domestic abuse wasn't funny, as he was oblivious as to why he shouldn't laugh, but it stuck because they couldn't get a better take of the scene.
• Vindicated by History: Downplayed; few would argue that The Room (2003) is a good film by any stretch of the imagination. But over time, fans have begun to look more kindly on the actors' individual performances (aside from Tommy Wiseau), as evidenced by this very Wiki. The Disaster Artist and projects like Bob Odenkirk's remake have demonstrated that nobody could have made that script work and the actors were doing the best that they could do with what they had been given. To say nothing of the Hostility on the Set that the cast and crew endured while filming.
• Wangst: Johnny is especially guilty of this in his dialogue. Lisa is apparently the only person who loves Johnny, despite the various people who are willing to play football with him, talk with him about his problems and take time out of their lives to go to his birthday party. Though in his defense, he was upset about getting turned down for a promotion when he said that nobody (besides Lisa) loves him.
• WTH, Costuming Department?:
  • Several of the costuming choices are pretty odd, but the one that stands out the most is the combination of a business jacket (which is about two sizes too large), black vest, and white cargo pants that Johnny wears during the "I did not hit her" sequence. Apparently, Tommy Wiseau just grabbed a random selection of clothes off the rack when they went to film the scene, and insisted on keeping with them despite both Greg Sestero and the costume designer politely trying to point out how ridiculous he looked.
  • We can't forget about the guys wearing tuxedoes while playing football.

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