Accidental Genius: An Oral history of The Room

Book by Andrew J. Rausch

Book Review by Mark Slade

Cult films seem to have a longer shelf life than even some of the best reviewed and most successful films at the box office. I don’t think anyone can really explain why that is. Maybe it’s the flaws of the films that ring truer to a viewer than an almost perfect one. But I’m not even certain of that. To be honest, I can’t even explain to people what a cult film is. I used to try, then get questions: well, this certain movie is listed as a cult film, yet it’s popular with most of the viewing audience.
So I gave up and just shrugged, told them I didn’t know the answer. Which is true.

According to Wikipedia:
“A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fan base which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated viewings, dialogue-quoting, and audience participation. Inclusive definitions allow for major studio productions, especially box-office bombs, while exclusive definitions focus more on obscure, transgressive films shunned by the mainstream. The difficulty in defining the term and subjectivity of what qualifies as a cult film mirror classificatory disputes about art. The term cult film itself was first used in the 1970s to describe the culture that surrounded underground films and midnight movies, though cult was in common use in film analysis for decades prior to that.”

Take from that what you will, but Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 film The Room fits every bit of that description. A new interview book examining Tommy Wiseau, The Room, and the experience of making that film is nothing short of a brilliant story told through conversations with cast, crew, and the man behind the film.

This splendid book by Andrew J. Rausch is also a laugh riot.

From the interviews in the book, seemingly, no one likes the man before, during, or after filming ended. The tall, creepy, dead-eyed Wiseau has an ego the size of Jupiter, speaks with an eastern European accent, and never figured out that not only was the film the butt of jokes, but so was he. Wiseau argued and fired cast members and went through several crews during the shoot. Wiseau penned the screenplay with Greg Sestero. Sestero used the experience of making the movie as the basis for his book The Disaster Artist, co-written with Tom Bissell. The book was adapted in 2007 for the film of the same name that starred and was directed by James Franco.

Wiseau and Sestero met in acting class in San Francisco. After getting kicked out of the class, Wiseau decided to make his own film, casting Sestero as Mark, he as the main character, Tommy.

Script supervisor Sandy Schklair was a stalwart, working with the actors, trying to make sense of a nonsensical script, did his best to keep things level, only to leave a few weeks before the film wrapped. Later, when The Room had success as a cult film, Schklair would claim he actually directed the project.

Why would anyone want credit for a film as bad as The Room?

Because of the notoriety, I assume, and being hidden away as a script supervisor does not get the attention a film director does. Schklair even admits how awful it is.

People are not interested in the film because it’s a masterpiece. It’s because Wiseau is an enigma. No one knows where he’s from, though he says he’s from New Orleans. The source of his wealth cannot be traced. He not only financed the whole production, he also bought the equipment, paid for a huge billboard with a strange photograph of himself, and campaigned for an Oscar.

Readers also find out from Rausch’s book of an accidental ground roots campaign. The Room acquired a following via USC students who called their friends, and by word of mouth brought more attention that led to a write-up in Entertainment Weekly.

You also glean from Rausch’s book how the first showing at a midnight movie theater, viewers start throwing plastic silverware whenever framed photos of spoons appear on screen.

Several storylines weave in and out through the collected interviews, as well as differing P.O.V.’s that give the story of The Room a Rashomon account of the film and Wiseau. The amount of research Rausch put into this book and finding the interviews is impressive. I’d rather pat Rausch on the back for this accomplishment than Wiseau and Sestero for milking a creation that even Ed Wood might find it hard to say something nice about.