Romy and Michele's High School Reunion

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	David Mirkin
Produced by	Laurence Mark
Screenplay by	Robin Schiff
Based on	Ladies Room by Robin Schiff
Starring	Mira Sorvino Lisa Kudrow Alan Cumming Julia Campbell Janeane Garofalo
Music by	Steve Bartek
Cinematography	Reynaldo Villalobos
Edited by	David Finfer
Production company	Touchstone Pictures
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date	April 25, 1997 (1997-04-25)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$29.2 million

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion is a 1997 American comedy film directed by David Mirkin and starring Lisa Kudrow, Mira Sorvino, Janeane Garofalo, Camryn Manheim and Alan Cumming. 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.

Plot

Romy White and Michele Weinberger are two friends living together in a beachfront apartment in Los Angeles, California. Romy works as a cashier in the service department of a Jaguar dealership; Michele is unemployed. They are both single and unambitious and enjoy the LA lifestyle. Romy encounters former high school classmate, Heather Mooney, who informs Romy about their upcoming ten-year high school reunion back in Tucson, Arizona.

At first excited at the prospect of attending, Romy then has the realization that they will not be able to make a good impression at the reunion. Desperate to impress their former classmates, Romy and Michele make last-ditch attempts to improve themselves to avoid the bullying they endured, mostly at the hands of the "A-Group", led by cheerleader Christy Masters.

In a series of flashbacks from 1987, Romy and Michele's suffering is revealed. Christy attached magnets to Michele's back brace and once took a bite out of the burger Romy was eating. Christie humiliated them once again at the prom, telling Romy that her handsome jock boyfriend, Billy Christensen, was in love with Romy and has now broken up with Christy to be with her. Christy tells Romy to wait for a dance with Billy. Christy and Billy then ride away together, unbeknownst to Romy, who patiently waits all night long at the dance for Billy. In tears, Romy then dances with Michele in a depressed state.

Failing in their attempts to get jobs and boyfriends, Romy and Michele decide to simply pretend they have been much more successful by showing up in an expensive car and business suits. Romy obtains a nice car from the Jaguar dealership, and Michele makes their outfits.

On the way to the reunion after making the realization they had not thought of what kind of business women they were, they decide to claim that they invented Post-it notes, reasoning that its true origins are obscure. Romy wants to state it was her idea to invent Post-Its and Michele's main contribution was deciding they should be yellow, which Michele takes as an insult to her intelligence. This leads to a further argument about who's the cuter of the two. The argument results in their decision to go their separate ways once they reach their destination.

When they arrive, Michele hears Romy saying that she invented Post-its all by herself. Michele convinces the A-Group girls that she invented a special kind of glue, explaining the glue's complicated formula in great detail. Sandy Frink, the nerd who had a crush on Michele in high school, turns out to be incredibly wealthy and gorgeous and hits on Michele, while Billy and Romy reunite and hit it off. Both Romy and Michele win awards as the most successful members of their graduating class. Though still refusing to speak with each other, they look back at each other with longing.

Seventy years later, an elderly Michele learns that Romy is on her deathbed, so she calls her to make amends. However, they rehash the same argument. Romy dies, flipping her the bird, and they never get a chance to resolve their issues.

Michele wakes up alone in the car in the present day, disturbed by the previous dream sequence. At the reunion, Romy has begun to spread her story. Heather Mooney disrupts their lie by revealing the real name of the person who did in fact invent Post-It notes (something Heather learned in business school). The A-Group girls begin a vicious verbal attack on Romy. Michele ineptly defends her. Christie further humiliates the two in front of everyone by revealing Romy's lie. Romy runs out, with Michele chasing after her.

Michele then tells Romy that she genuinely thought that their lives were wonderful just the way they were, before Romy said that they were not good enough. Michele also says that they should not care what everyone else thinks. They change into fun, stylish outfits they've designed, and return to the reunion, determined to have some fun at any cost.

They confront Christy about her bullying. Romy says she no longer cares about Christy because Christy is just "a bad person with an ugly heart". Christy makes fun of their clothes. Former classmate, “Lisa Luder“, an ex-member of the A-Group who has since become a fashion editor for Vogue, sees things differently, and announces that the outfits are actually very well made and overall "not bad". Christy begins to attack Lisa, but Lisa coolly dismisses her in front of the crowd that has gathered to watch. The other A-Group girls defect and Christy is left by herself, while everyone else makes their way over to congratulate Romy and Michele. Heather apologizes to Romy and Michele and tells them that the two of them had actually made her unhappy in high school, for she had been in love with Sandy. Romy and Michele then make her feel better by saying that she too had the luxury of making someone miserable, referencing former classmate and reunion committee head Toby Walters, to whom Heather was always cruel in high school.

Sandy Frink then arrives via helicopter, and turns out to be a billionaire who made his fortune from inventing a special shoe rubber. He goes over to talk to Romy and Michele. Michele tells Sandy that he must be the most successful person in their class. Sandy responds that despite all the wealth and success he has, the one thing he doesn't have is her, and asks her to dance with him. Michele agrees, so long as Romy can dance with them too.

After an interpretive dance to Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" that receives huge applause, Sandy escorts them to his helicopter.

Heather walks out, not interested in the new Sandy. While smoking, she encounters a mysterious classmate dressed as a cowboy. Heather remembers that in high school, he would often offer her a light by silently flicking lit cigarette butts at her. This time, Heather demands that he talk to her. The cowboy lights her cigarette with a lighter and apologizes for his previous behavior, stating that he had suffered from a speech impediment in high school.

Romy and Michele leave with Sandy. On their way out, they encounter Billy Christensen, who is now Christy‘s husband. Far from being the physically fit and handsome jock that he was back in high school, Billy's now an overweight alcoholic with a dead-end job (exposing Christy's previous lie to Romy and Michele about Billy being a successful real estate developer) and an unhappy marriage with Christy; Billy's also unsure if the baby that Christy's currently carrying is actually his. When he propositions Romy, she tells him to go up to his hotel room, get undressed, and wait for her. He excitedly shuffles off; Romy laughs, having finally settled the score with Billy. They board the helicopter and see Heather down below amongst some bushes, making out with the cowboy.

Six months later, back in Los Angeles, Romy and Michele use money loaned to them by Sandy to open their own fashion boutique. Heather has stayed in touch and has become friends with the girls, shopping in their store (and finally getting an outfit that's not all black).

Cast

• Mira Sorvino as Romy White
• Lisa Kudrow as Michele Weinberger
• Janeane Garofalo as Heather Mooney
• Camryn Manheim as Toby Walters
• Alan Cumming as Sandy Frink
• Julia Campbell as Christy Masters
• Mia Cottet as Cheryl Quick
• Kristin Bauer as Kelly Possenger
• Elaine Hendrix as Lisa Luder
• Vincent Ventresca as Billy Christianson
• Justin Theroux as Clarence the Cowboy
• Jacob Vargas as Ramon
• Rick Pasqualone as Mark
• Tate Taylor as Casey

Reception

The film was positively received by critics. It maintains a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 56 reviews (40 fresh and 16 rotten) with an average rating of 6.2/10.^[1] It opened at number two in the North American box office, making $7.4 million in its opening weekend behind Volcano. It grossed a total of $29 million in North America.^[2]

Television pilot and prequel

An earlier incarnation of the Romy and Michele characters appeared in a sitcom pilot entitled Just Temporary. Based on the stage play Ladies Room, the pilot was written by the play's author, Robin Schiff. Both Lisa Kudrow and Christie Mellor reprised their roles from the play for the pilot. Although the show was not picked up for the fall schedule, NBC did air the pilot on September 1, 1999.

A prequel television film, Romy and Michele: In the Beginning, premiered May 30, 2005 on ABC Family.

A musical adaptation premiered at the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle, Washington in Summer 2017.

Soundtrack

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic (first album)	[3]
Allmusic (second album)	[4]
Discogs (first album)	[5]
Discogs (second album)	[6]

Two soundtrack albums featuring music from Romy and Michele's High School Reunion were released in 1997 courtesy of Hollywood Records. The first album, titled "Original Soundtrack", was made available ten days before the official North American film release, while the second album, "More Music From the Motion Picture", was released four months later. Due to copyright issues, several songs which featured in the film, did not appear on either soundtrack album; songs omitted include the film's opening song "Just a Girl" by No Doubt, "Y.M.C.A." by Village People, "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer, "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper, "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" by Sub Sub, featuring Melanie Williams, "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, "Hello Trouble" by The Desert Rose Band, "Don't Get Me Wrong" by The Pretenders and "Have a Good Time" by Talawah Crew.

Original Soundtrack

More Music from the Motion Picture

See also

• List of cult films

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Romy and Michele's High School Reunion

• Romy and Michele's High School Reunion on IMDb
• Romy and Michele's High School Reunion at AllMovie
• Romy and Michele's High School Reunion at Box Office Mojo
• Romy and Michele's High School Reunion at Rotten Tomatoes