Everybody’s favorite director of unknown origin is back behind the camera (and in front of it as well, obviously). Tommy Wiseau, he of the endlessly rewatchable The Room and the not-even-watchable-once sitcom The Neighbors, has again put images to screen, this time for a music video. The song, “California I Follow,” is by the Los Angeles band Corsica Arts Club, who were likely more than happy to get Wiseau on board for the shoot, because here we are, talking about it. Wiseau even penned a short statement to accompany the release of the video, in which he gets the band’s name wrong, and says the vision behind the video is Romeo And Juliet for a new generation:
I enjoy very much working with the band, the Corsica Art Club. I think all the members did very a good job. They have certain vision. Same here. I’m, as a director, always, you know, I’m looking for detailed work. And they present me detailed work like lyrics, they already have the music, and I say ‘Okay, let’s just analyze what we can do.’ The concept was vision, basically—what we can do. What the story? So, we brainstormed this story, and I say ‘Romeo and Juliet, what about that? New generation.’ And they accepted, and we did rehearsal, and that’s the finished product. So the concept was ‘vision, vision, vision.’ Thank you.
Unfortunately, somebody must have hired a DP tasked with keeping Wiseau in check, because this thing looks wholly competent. It’s simple and silly, and largely indistinguishable from the direction of any other reasonably shot music video. Sure, there are the overt Tommy touches: the band members are all wearing his signature underwear line and dressed like his Ricky Rick character from The Neighbors; that show’s Raul Phoenix plays Romeo; and Tommy, in character, pauses the proceedings mid-way through the song to say, “Love is blind, huh?” because that’s a line he says, and he knows what the people want. It’s a catchy tune, but those looking for that Wiseau magic will feel let down, a feeling they should probably get used to when it comes to the multi-hyphenate’s subsequent output.