Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997)

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Directed by David Mirkin.

Starring Julia Campbell, Alan Cumming, Lisa Kudrow, Mira Sorvino, Janeane Garofalo.

Two dimwitted pals attempt to fib their way through their high school reunion with disastrous results in this bubbly comedy from David Mirkin, frequent director of the cult TV sitcom Get a Life!. Los Angeles dim-bulbs Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michelle (Lisa Kudrow) have been best friends since childhood. Their shared passions include shopping, club-hopping, and creating their own candy-colored fashions. When their tenth high school reunion looms, the friends realize that their lives are not impressive enough to cow the popular crowd that tormented them in their teen years. So Romy borrows a Jaguar, and the duo concocts a story about how they became top corporate executives by creating Post-It Notes. Once they are at the reunion, however, Romy and Michelle's scheme unravels. Saturnine classmate Heather (Janeane Garofalo), who really did make a fortune as an inventor, exposes their fraud, and the girls find themselves mocked again, by everyone except Sandy Frink (Alan Cumming), a nerd millionaire with a lingering crush on Michelle. Kudrow reprised the role of Michelle from her late 1980s stage performance in the play Ladies' Room by Robin Schiff, who expanded both the play and the part of Michelle for the feature film version. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Re:Films or film making??
by leeroy711 in Viewing with a purpose

lost interest.

"[quote user="mercurial"] [quote user="leeroy711"] Having said all of this, I would clearly put myself in the catagory of the latter. These are not that easy to pin down because they are absolutely not mutually exclusive. That is to say, a fan of films is naturally going to be also a fan of the process and vice versa. But, I do think that if you look at it just right, there are two distinct catagories. Any thoughts??? [/quote] Yeah, you're right. I unfortunately find myself in the third distinction where I juggle both schools of thought and have to breakdown (usually) each film I watch. Most of my friends have given up listening to my advice about films because they have seen my movie collection and have said that they can't trust someone that has Requiem for a Dream (the fan of filmmaking side of me) next to Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (the fan of stupid, fun films side of me) on the shelf. On the other hand, I consider myself along the lines of Ebert. He has said how h ... " [More]

Re:Films or film making??
by mercurial in Viewing with a purpose

loved it.

"[quote user="leeroy711"] Having said all of this, I would clearly put myself in the catagory of the latter. These are not that easy to pin down because they are absolutely not mutually exclusive. That is to say, a fan of films is naturally going to be also a fan of the process and vice versa. But, I do think that if you look at it just right, there are two distinct catagories. Any thoughts??? [/quote] Yeah, you're right. I unfortunately find myself in the third distinction where I juggle both schools of thought and have to breakdown (usually) each film I watch. Most of my friends have given up listening to my advice about films because they have seen my movie collection and have said that they can't trust someone that has Requiem for a Dream (the fan of filmmaking side of me) next to Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (the fan of stupid, fun films side of me) on the shelf. On the other hand, I consider myself along the lines of Ebert. He has said how he submits to the unconven ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

is neutral about it.

Audiences are accustomed to seeing two luckless, clueless guys front a slight comedy (think Wayne and Garth or Bill and Ted), so it's refreshing to have them replaced by talented actresses who don't mind looking goofy for laughs. It's never quite possible to forget that Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino almost certainly would have been the popular kids at their school, but the pair do "gawky" surprisingly well, with real sympathy. Romy and Michele's High School Reunion rides their performances to a more affectionate status than the script alone could have achieved, and it gets big help from Alan Cumming and Janeane Garofalo on its way to becoming one of the more memorable buddy comedies of the 1990s. The bubblegum look of Mayne Berke's production design -- all pastels and pinks -- makes it a gloriously kitschy affair, one that might be comfortable alongside a John Waters movie. Its characterization of high school archetypes may be typically simplistic, but it gets the overwhelming sense of reunion dread right on. No one can blame Romy and Michele for trying to concoct a better story for themselves, and the realization that others are just trying to do the same should put any stunted twentysomethings in the viewing public at ease. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Tags: fashion , reunion , classreunion , clothes , lies
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