Blonde and Blonder
"Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" has a lot going for it; Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino work together as two vacuous friends, the idea of them returning for a school reunion and making up more impressive lies is also good. Throw in the fact we have 80s flashbacks, 80s music and a lot of great dialogue as well as supporting characters and everything seems right for an enjoyable comedy. Except there is one problem and that is Romy and Michele are at times such dumb blondes that it becomes painful, going beyond the point of being amusing to being painful. And that element of going beyond the point of being fun to something painful also happens to the storyline and it is a shame as "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" does have everything to be a great comedy than the average one it turns out.
It's been 10 years since Romy (Mira Sorvino - Beautiful Girls) and Michele (Lisa Kudrow - Easy A) left high school and they've remained best friends sharing a place in L.A. So when they learn that there is to be a 10 year high school reunion they decide they must return to see how everyone is. But realising that neither of them has amounted to much in those 10 years decide they need to come up with a bogus success story and dress like business women rather than the party girls they are.
Like some of the best comedies "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" trades on the simplest of stories, that of friends since school Romy and Michele learning about the 10 year high school reunion and heading back home with a goal of impressing those who made their high school years a misery. As such we get a mix of the then and now as Romy and Michele reminisce about school, how Romy had a crush on Billy whilst Michele was picked on because she wore a back brace. This is all interweaved with the now where first they try to get hot boyfriends and good jobs for their return and then decide to just make it all up, leading them to come up with the story that they invented post-it-notes. It is simple and as you expect things don't go to plan for these two friends and flat mates.
But in a way "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" is not so much about the story but the characters of Romy and Michele. We smile at the way they live, going clubbing to look for good men, watching "Pretty Woman" together and in the case of Romy believing that getting Mono was a great diet. It's stupid but for the most fun stupid as are the flashbacks and introductions to friends from the abrupt Heather to the nasty Christy as well as the geeky Sandy. And everyone has some great lines which are genuinely funny, be it Romy and Michele working out together to the way Heather tells people about the quick burning cigarette she invented for women on the go.
But there is an issue because far too often it goes beyond being funny and unfortunately there are times when Romy and Michele come over as too dumb. It becomes painful in a screechy sort of way as Michele looks gob smacked to discover something simple. And the actual storyline goes too far as it seems too struggle to fill the entire 92 minutes with about 10 minutes of utter daftness. It is a shame as it ends up being the painful parts of the movie, well that and Lisa Kudrow walking around in a bra that you remember more than anything.
Yet having said it becomes painful there is no denying that Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino work well together as two dumb blondes, rather ironic considering they both have degrees in real life. And the supporting cast adds to the humour especially Janeane Garofalo who is brilliantly sarcastic as Heather.
What this all boils down to is that "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" is good fun with a fun storyline, fun characters and some great writing. But it does take things too far with moments of daftness becoming painful for being too daft.
