Tommy Wiseau did not receive an Oscar nomination nor a Razzie nomination for portraying the greatest of characters Johnny in The Room.
Ah yes such legendary actors Laurence Olivier, Robert Duvall, and Charlie Chaplin these actors have before directed themselves to an incredible performance clearly attempting to join their ranks is Tommy Wiseau. Tommy Wiseau an actor and director like no other obviously, I mean just look at that picture even pictures of him defy description. Clearly no other director could possibly contain the acting prowess of this man but himself.
Now Wiseau takes an interesting tactic to begin with in his performance which is speak in his native tongue. It might be true technically speaking it is English but let's be honest English takes on a whole new life of its own with Wiseau's accent. Of course his accent is only the first part of his no holds barred work that always takes risks no matter how head scratching it might be to a casual viewers. This is truly other wordly performance, and no I do not mean in some sort spiritual fashion, I mean more of like an alien from another world.
In Wiseau eyes we see a daze like the thousand worked days of a banker where they take all his ideas and make all the money and he is the fool. His face suggests a man with no hope almost as if he is constantly on a strong painkiller all the time. That face of his just says it all in his place in the world that he soon becomes fed up with. It is a face of a man's failures, and inabilities to know that his fiancee is some pointlessly evil woman for no reason.
Something quite fascinating in this performance is the fact that Wiseau constantly starts throwing his voice all the time, where he will appear to be mouthing one thing, but his words do not match up, it is something truly outstanding, a risky maneuver that lesser actors would never even attempt to do. Wiseau goes full force with obviously implying that perhaps Johnny was not suppose to be a banker with great ideas after all, no he was clearly meant to be a ventriloquist.
Wiseau is not afraid here to even call back to classic performances from the legendary James Dean particularly in one moment heartbroken over his fiancee's lies that he hit her, he breaks out in the immortal line "You're tearing me apart Lisa". Wiseau goes all out in his accented screech, moving his arms akimbo like he was saying yes to a great victory, even though there is not victory to be seen in the rest of Johnny's story in the room.
What is spectacular in this performance of performances is the ability to change the emotions in a moment so easily. For example when again he complains, to the air I guess, about how he did not her, he did not, what grief Wiseau conveys in his scrunched up face, and bizarre inflection. He then instantly changes his face from pain to instant casual greeting in oh hi mark. Such a stunning portrait of instant emotion change, it is truly something stunning.
I think the most interesting part of this performance though is Wiseau odd, but obviously brilliant choices in certain scenes. Such as when his friend Mark tells Johnny a story about a woman being beaten so bad she ended up in a hospital at Guerrero street. Rather than show interest, or depth in regards to it, Wiseau takes a whole another approach and laughs in reaction to the story showing that even a story about a brutal beating Wiseau shows that Johnny always sees the lighter side even when it might very strange to do so.
But we all know the highlight of this performance comes at the end of the film when Johnny is enraged to find out his fiancee Lisa is having an affair with his best friend Mark, what follows it the most forceful moments of pain ever depicted on screen. He leaves no prisoners not even chickens as he brutally states cheep cheep cheep, which is just incredible for Johnny to try to get rid of the accepted chicken call of Baaack baack, baack, baack, truly stunning.
The greatest moments come in Wiseau depiction of Johnny tantrum where he destroys the room yelling why Lisa why, in a cry that is unforgettable. He leaves nothing alone whether it is clothes, draws, or a poor tv that Wiseau the director decided to film flying out side the window and being destroyed clearly that cut was essential during Johnny's final pains. Well it all ends with Johnny blowing his brains out, and Wiseau's dead face is truly something that cannot be forgotten in this performance that is one for the ages. There is only one rating worthy of this performance.
Seriously though this performance is in all honesty terrible. Yes his accent, and weird choice in this performance are hilarious. The man though was entirely serious in his performance though, despite what he now claims, and in being a serious performance this fails miserably. As a failure though it completely succeeds though. I can't give him credit though when everything enjoyable about this performance was purely unintentional, since no man can make a film this hilariously bad on purpose. (Not a single Gittes)
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