ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION (Touchstone - 1997) Starring Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow, Janeane Garafolo, Alan Cumming, Julia Campbell Screenplay by Robin Schiff, inspired by her stage play THE LADIES' ROOM Produced by Laurence Mark Directed by David Mirkin Running time: 91 minutes
** (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: C
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
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ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION is an unabashedly formulaic tale and while desperately upbeat and cheerful, it only manages to be sporadically amusing and rarely does it ever become laugh-out-loud funny - frankly, if you've seen the trailer for the film, you've more or less seen its best lines.
The film's protagonists are endearingly-ditzy best friends Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michele (Lisa Kudrow), who share a place on Venice Beach and spend their time club-hopping and rewatching PRETTY WOMAN on video. (Romy is the slightly-brigher of the two; she at least has the good sense to make fun of the movie.) When made aware of their impending ten-year high school reunion, they reflect on their years of ridicule from the A-group at Sagebrush High in Tucson, and come to the shocking realization that their post-graduate lives haven't been the epitome of success; both are single and only Romy has a job - albeit, as a cashier. Determined to impress their classmates, Romy and Michele fabricate a success story (they settle on claiming to be the inventors of Post-It notes), and hit the road for Arizona.
It doesn't take a genius to see where this movie is going - heck, even Romy or Michele themselves could probably tell you that ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION is going to see their cliqueish tormenters receive their proper dressing-down, and that Romy and Michele are going to make a splash at Sagebrush High and exit their high school reunion triumphant. Robin Schiff's screenplay doesn't surprise in that respect, but its utter predicatability isn't necessarily a bad thing for a film such as this; if the screenplay's destination is already a given, at least we can hope for a good ride along the way.
Unfortunately, this doesn't happen in ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. An extended fantasy sequence (and I mean extended - it seems to run for about fifteen minutes) in the middle of the film doesn't quite work, nor does a series of flashback sequences depicting Romy and Michele's persecuted high school years. The actual high school reunion scenes also don't quite click - come to think of it, none of the film really works as good as it could or should, which is a real disappointment. Ringing particularly false is an unnecessary incident in the film which temporarily drives Romy and Michele apart; it clearly comes off as a none-too-efficient device to build momentum for the reunion scenes and the obligatory reconciliation scenes, and doesn't work at all.
Ms. Sorvino and Ms. Kudrow struggle valiantly, and for the most part succeed in bringing their dense Romy and Michele characters to the screen; they're bubble-headed, but likeable protagonists for the film. Ms. Kudrow is a bit more successful as Michele than Ms. Sorvino as Romy; Ms. Sorvino's natural intelligence manages to shine through her portrayal of the character, undermining the credibility of Romy's ditzyness (which is somewhat of a surprise, given how successful she was in an Academy Award-winning portrayal of a similarly vacant character in MIGHTY APHRODITE).
None of the supporting characters in ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION are particularly well-drawn out. Class curmudgeon Heather (the scene-stealing Janeane Garafolo) is funny, but her character is mostly a mystery in ths film. Oafish jock Billy Christiansen (Vincent Ventresca), for whom Romy had a crush, and snobbish, nasty cheerleader queen Christine (Julia Campbell) are predictably one-dimensional, and class geek-turned-Bill Gates-clone Sandy Frank (Alan Cumming) is nothing more than a caricature.
David Mirkin's feature film debut has a lot of energy and is relentlessly upbeat, with the soundtrack being filled by cheery 1980s pop songs from the likes of the Go-Gos and Bananarama, but Mr. Mirkin seems to be unable to overcome the vaguely episodic nature of the film's screenplay, resulting in a tendency for ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION to lurch back and forth. (There's an ironic scene in the film where Romy and Michele, singing along with Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" [and forgetting most of the lyrics], drive a vehicle that does just that.)
ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION is a cheerful, frantically feelgood comedy which ultimately proves to be unsatisfying. It's disappointing, because I found myself liking the Romy and Michele characters; there's something endearing about their vacuous banter and their obliviousness. I'd like to see them in another movie, or at least a better one than this.
- Alex Fung
email: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ "At one point when berated and bloodied by her male military superior, Moore screams out a guttural invitation to him to enjoy partaking in the absorption of a certain anatomical member." - Dan Cox, VARIETY, on G.I. JANE
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