Romy and Michele's High School Reunion is a 1997 American comedy film directed by David Mirkin and starring Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow, and Janeane Garofalo. The plot revolves around two 28-year-old women who appear to have not achieved much success in life, and decide to invent fake careers to impress former classmates at their ten-year high school reunion. The characters are taken from the stage play Ladies Room, which also featured Kudrow.
The film received positive reviews from critics and is considered a cult classic.[3][4]
Plot
Two 28-year-old women, Romy White and Michele Weinberger, live together in an apartment in Venice, Los Angeles, California. Romy works as a cashier in the service department at a Jaguar dealership and Michele is unemployed. They are single, unambitious, and enjoy a casual lifestyle of slacking, mocking TV and movies, and elaborate amateur dressmaking. While working, Romy encounters her former classmate from high school, Heather Mooney. Once a rebellious, troubled girl who frequently smoked cigarettes in school, she is now a businesswoman who invented the paper for a fast-burning cigarette. Heather informs Romy about their upcoming ten-year high school reunion in Tucson, Arizona.
As high school students in 1987, Romy and Michele were continually bullied by the "A-Group," a small group of popular, yet mean, girls, led by cheerleader Christie Masters, who humiliated them repeatedly. Romy also had a crush on Christie’s boyfriend, athlete Billy Christianson. Heather was in love with a geek named Sandy Frink, but Sandy had a crush on Michele. Heather often blew off steam by bullying a girl called Toby Walters. Finally, at the prom, Romy asked Billy if he would dance with her. Though he agreed, when he spoke to Christie about it, she decided to take advantage of the situation. Christie tricked Romy and Michele into thinking Billy was in love with Romy, and had dumped Christie to be with her. Romy waited all night to dance with Billy, who had already left with Christie. Michele danced with her instead.
Romy realizes that their lack of achievements will not make a good impression at the reunion. Desperate to impress their former classmates, Romy and Michele make last-ditch attempts to improve themselves, to no avail. In the end, they decide to fake success by showing up in an expensive car and business suits. Romy borrows a Jaguar XJ-S from a co-worker, and Michele makes their outfits. En route to the reunion, they decide to claim that they invented the Post-it note, believing that no one will know better. They confront over the details of their lie, which escalates into an argument about their friendship. They decide to go their separate ways once they reach the reunion.
At the reunion, Michele hears Romy claiming that she invented Post-its by herself. Michele convinces the A-Group she invented a special kind of glue. Sandy Frink, the nerd who had a crush on Michele in high school, has become wealthy and attractive since high school, and hits on Michele after hitting her with his limo. Billy and Romy reunite and hit it off. Both Romy and Michele win awards as the "Most Changed For the Better Since High School" members of their graduating class, but still refuse to speak with each other. Seventy years later, an elderly Michele learns that Romy is on her deathbed, and calls her to make amends. However, they rehash the same argument and Romy dies without resolving their issues.
Michele wakes up alone in the Jaguar, realizing that she was dreaming. At the reunion, Romy starts to tell the Post-it story to the A-group, who are all pregnant. Christie Masters is now a mother of two children, with a third on the way, and married to Billy, who, according to Christie, works in real estate. Heather arrives (hoping to seduce Sandy Frink) and Christie mentions Romy’s Post-it story, but Heather reveals the lie by telling everyone the real inventor's name. Christie and her friends taunt Romy, and Michele ineptly defends her. Romy runs out, and Michele chases after her. They reconcile and decide to be themselves instead of trying to impress other people. They change into brightly colored homemade outfits and return to the reunion.
They confront Christie, who makes fun of their clothes. A-Group girl Lisa Luder, who lost touch with the A-group after high school and has changed for the better, is now a fashion editor for Vogue, and announces that the outfits are actually "not bad." Christie verbally attacks Lisa, who coolly dismisses and mocks her. The other A-Group women abandon Christie, while everyone else congratulates Romy and Michele. Heather apologizes to Romy and Michele for ruining their story, and admits she was miserable in high school because Sandy was in love with Michele, and didn’t even want to be friends with her. She also mentions that she had no idea Romy and Michele were so badly bullied by the A-group, thinking their lives were perfect. Romy and Michele comfort her by reminding her that she was always successful at making Toby Walters miserable. Just at that moment, Toby asks Heather if she will sign her yearbook as she never did in high school. After Toby admits that Heather always hurt her feelings when they were teenagers, Heather is amazed and happily agrees to sign Toby’s yearbook.
Sandy, now wealthy and successful, arrives via helicopter. He confesses that he still loves Michele and asks her to dance with him. Michele agrees, as long as Romy can dance with them. After their interpretive dance to Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", they receive huge applause, and Sandy escorts them to his helicopter. On their way out, they encounter Billy. Once a muscular and handsome athlete, he is now an overweight alcoholic, has a dead-end job installing drywall for Christie's father, and is unsure if he is the father of her latest pregnancy. He hits on Romy, who tells him to wait for her in his hotel room. As revenge for making her feel so insecure because of the prom trick, she plans to do the exact same thing to him. She then leaves the reunion with Michele as the two girls join Sandy in his helicopter. The reunion guests watch as the helicopter takes off.
Six months later, back in Los Angeles, Romy and Michele have opened a successful fashion boutique with their homemade designs using money borrowed from Sandy.
Cast
Mira Sorvino as Romy White, a cashier in the service department of a car dealership. In high school, Romy was unpopular and bullied frequently. She has been best friends with Michele since high school.
Lisa Kudrow as Michele Weinberger, a ditzy girl who is unemployed. In high school, Michele was unpopular and bullied frequently, and made fun of because of her scoliosis brace.
Janeane Garofalo as Heather Mooney, a businesswoman who invented the paper in a special type of cigarette. In high school, Heather was troubled and insecure. She frequently skipped classes and hid behind the school building to smoke. She also had a crush on Sandy Frink.
Alan Cumming as Sandy Frink, a wealthy, successful businessman who invented a special kind of rubber. In high school, he was an unpopular geek who had an unrequited crush on Michele.
Julia Campbell as Christie Masters, a housewife who is married to Billy Christianson and has two children, and is pregnant with a third child. In high school, she was a popular cheerleader and leader of the A-group (the most popular clique in school) where she bullied Romy and Michele. In high school, Christie dreamed of becoming a TV Anchor woman.
Vincent Ventresca as Billy Christianson, a heavy-drinking drywaller who works for his father-in-law. He is married to Christie Masters and has two children though their marriage is strained and he is unsure if Christie’s latest pregnancy is because of him. In high school, he was a popular and handsome athlete who Romy had a crush on.
Camryn Manheim as Toby Walters, an optimistic woman who organises the school reunion. In high school, she was part of the yearbook committee and was bullied by Heather Mooney.
Mia Cottet as Cheryl Quick, a member of the A-group who is pregnant.
Elaine Hendrix as Lisa Luder, an assistant fashion editor for Vogue. In high school, Lisa was a member of the A-group.
Kristin Bauer as Kelly Possenger, a member of the A-group who is pregnant.
Jacob Vargas as Ramon, a co-worker of Romy’s. He is attracted to Romy.
Justin Theroux as Clarence the Cowboy, an outcast who smoked near Heather in high school.
The Romy and Michele characters first appeared in the 1988 stage play Ladies Room, which was written by Robin Schiff. Schiff was in the comedy troupe The Groundlings with Lisa Kudrow, who starred in the play as Michele opposite Christie Mellor as Romy.[1] Schiff said her inspiration for the characters of Romy and Michele “were loosely based, just visually, on these girls I used to see going into a club on Sunset Blvd. You'd see these two friends, and they looked like they got dressed together and were wearing different versions of the same thing."[1]
Ladies Room was then adapted into a sitcom pilot called Just Temporary, with Kudrow and Mellor reprising their roles, but the pilot was not picked up.[1][5] Around this time, film executives at the Disney subsidiary Touchstone came across Schiff's play while "looking for a ‘female version of Wayne's World'."[1] Schiff was initially reluctant to adapt the play into a film, thinking some scenes would not transfer well to a movie. After Schiff pondered about what it might be like if Romy and Michele were invited to their high school reunion ("…And it wasn't until they fill out the questionnaire when they realize their lives hadn't amounted to anything. That seemed funny to me.") Schiff began work on the script, which she would spend the next five years developing.[1] Schiff based the characters' friendship partly on her relationship with her best friend. “One day we were stuck on a plane on a tarmac, and started reading the Sky Mall catalog and laughing our asses off. That was the kind of friend you want to hang out with—that even stuck on a plane on the tarmac you can still have fun."[1]
Casting
Kudrow's rising stardom from the show Friends played a part in the film successfully getting through the development stage.[1]Toni Collette was a strong contender for the role of Romy and met with director David Mirkin.[6] The studio offered the role to Mira Sorvino, who at that point was about to win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the film Mighty Aphrodite.[6] Said Mirkin, “It was definitely a long shot, but I heard she wanted to meet so we had lunch, and I instantly knew that she could do it. Romy and Michele were conceived as one tall and one short, but I loved the idea of Lisa and Mira playing this idiot blonde power couple.”[6]
Filming
Filming took place between April and June 1996 in Los Angeles.[7][8][9] Exterior shots of Romy and Michele's fictional Sagebrush High School were filmed in Santa Clarita.[10] $240,000 of the film's $20 million budget was spent on securing the licensing rights for the song “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper.[1]Mona May, who served as the costume designer for Clueless, provided the film's outfits.[11]
Touchstone initially found David Mirkin's final cut of the film to be too quirky and wanted to sweeten the tone, but Mirkin insisted on keeping the edgier tone.[12][13]
Release
Box office
The film opened at number two in the North American box office, making $7.4 million in its opening weekend, finishing behind Volcano. It grossed a total of $29 million in North America.[2] In the United States, it was released the same month as Grosse Pointe Blank, another 1980s-themed high school reunion film that Disney was involved with.[14]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 6.30/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion has an admittedly slight premise, but it's elevated by ample heart, an infectiously playful spirit, and the buoyant chemistry of Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino."[15] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.[17]
Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, declaring, "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, written by Robin Schiff (based on her play) and directed by David Mirkin, is one of the brightest and goofiest comedies in a while, a film that has a share of truth, but isn't afraid to cut loose with the weirdest choreography I have seen outside a 1960s revival.”[18]
Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote the “candy-colored 'Romy and Michele's High School Reunion’ [is] cheerful, giddy fun” and praised the two female leads, saying “Ms. Kudrow and Ms. Sorvino make a fine team, elevating bubble-headedness to new levels of comic ingenuity.”[19] Jack Mathews of the Los Angeles Times said "beneath the endless silliness of the movie beats a real heart, and its theme of loyal friendship keeps propping it up every time the thin walls of the story seem about to collapse.”[20] Mathews also praised "the dead-pan performances of Sorvino and Kudrow...Romy and Michelle are cartoon characters, but the actresses make them both real and enormously sympathetic."[20]
Romy and Michele's High School Reunion was released on DVD on August 24, 1999.[23] It was also reissued as a special edition Blu-ray for the film's 15th anniversary in 2012.[24]
Legacy
Though a modest success at the box office, the film steadily gained a cult following through home video and repeat cable TV airings since release.[4][13][25][9]
A musical adaptation premiered at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, Washington in June 2017.[26] The musical, directed by Kristin Hanggi (Broadway's Rock of Ages) stars Cortney Wolfson and Stephanie Renee as Romy and Michele, respectively. Orange Is the New Black and Weeds composers Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay wrote the music and lyrics to original songs, including "Business Woman Special", "10 Years", "I Invented Post-Its" and "Changing Lives One Outfit at a Time".[1][27]
