# "The Room" (2003, Tommy Wiseau) is actually a good movie. A great one, in fact.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-room-2003-tommy-wiseau-is-actually-a-good-movie-a-great-one-in-fact/803009>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 29, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-room-2003-tommy-wiseau-is-actually-a-good-movie-a-great-one-in-fact/803009 "2017-11-29T03:54:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-room-2003-tommy-wiseau-is-actually-a-good-movie-a-great-one-in-fact/803009/41 "2017-12-06T02:46:02Z")

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In “The Disaster Artist”, is James Franco’s character supposed to be mentally handicapped? Or is that just how he appears in the trailer?

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**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-room-2003-tommy-wiseau-is-actually-a-good-movie-a-great-one-in-fact/803009/42 "2017-12-06T03:25:09Z")

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> [@monstro](#):
>
> In “The Disaster Artist”, is James Franco’s character supposed to be mentally handicapped? Or is that just how he appears in the trailer?

That’s how he appears in real life.

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**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-room-2003-tommy-wiseau-is-actually-a-good-movie-a-great-one-in-fact/803009/43 "2017-12-06T14:16:09Z")

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> [@monstro](#):
>
> In “The Disaster Artist”, is James Franco’s character supposed to be mentally handicapped? Or is that just how he appears in the trailer?

Franco is doing a pretty faithful imitation of Wiseau. Wiseau is an extremely odd man and precisely why he acts that way is not really well known.

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**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-room-2003-tommy-wiseau-is-actually-a-good-movie-a-great-one-in-fact/803009/44 "2017-12-06T17:20:49Z")

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> [@monstro](#):
>
> In “The Disaster Artist”, is James Franco’s character supposed to be mentally handicapped? Or is that just how he appears in the trailer?

I’ve heard theories that Tommy Wiseau has brain damage, it would explain some of his behavior. He apparently does have memory problems, like for one infamous scene on the roof where he absolutely couldn’t remember his short line.

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**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-room-2003-tommy-wiseau-is-actually-a-good-movie-a-great-one-in-fact/803009/45 "2017-12-06T18:26:36Z")

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> [@Sam\_Lowry](#):
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> I’ve heard theories that Tommy Wiseau has brain damage, it would explain some of his behavior. He apparently does have memory problems, like for one infamous scene on the roof where he absolutely couldn’t remember his short line.

Part of this might be a language thing. Wiseau’s background is obscure (I’ve always thought he was East European - he’s claimed to be Cajun, among other things), but he reminds me of French Canadian Georges St Pierre in his speech.

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