Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997)

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