Blu-ray Review Romy and Michele's High School Reunion Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

There’s a strong whiff of sadness and desperation surrounding David Mirkin’s Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, and that’s death for a comedy. Two superb comic actresses wear out their welcome playing clueless nitwits for ninety minutes amid a sea of tiresomely mean and unfunny adult versions of their high school brat selves. A few supporting performances compensate a bit for a singular lack of comic invention that most of the movie foists on its viewers.

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (Blu-ray)
Directed by David Mirkin

Studio: Touchstone
Year: 1997
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1   1080p   AVC codec
Running Time: 92 minutes
Rating: R
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 2.0 French, Spanish
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish, French

Region: A-B-C
MSRP: $ 20.00

Release Date: August 7, 2012

Review Date: August 3, 2012

The Film

2.5/5

Clueless heterosexual soul mates Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michele (Lisa Kurdrow) have been joined at the hip since high school, their singularly simpletonish way of looking at the world somehow buffeting them from the slings and arrows of everyday life. When they receive word of their tenth high school reunion, they’re perturbed to realize that they haven’t accomplished much in ten years, certainly not enough to impress any of their classmates who used them for verbal target practice all those years ago. So, with a borrowed convertible, some stylish business suits, and a ready-made lie about their being the inventors of Post-Its, the two girls head from Los Angeles to Tucson hoping to finally make a positive impression on the A-class snobs who always gave them grief.

There is only so much airheaded buffoonery that Robin Schiff’s script can inflict on these two girls without running out of steam, and while the actresses are talented enough to retain audience sympathy throughout the ordeal of the high school flashbacks (particularly cruel not just to them but to a string of nerds who heartbreakingly grin and bear their torture) and a couple of dream sequences (which, in the script’s one clever move, doesn’t alert the audience that these are dreams), all the bitchery and negative feedback get to be rather burdensome. When the comeuppance to the snobs finally arrives late in the movie, it’s not enough to compensate for over an hour of really distasteful bullying. Frankly, the movie’s most interesting character Heather played by Janeane Garofalo should have been given a greater piece of the story to offer some kind of respite to all of the dunderheaded behavior of the two blonde leads. Director David Mirkin directs a rather funny climactic dance trio for the two leads and fellow nerd Sandy Frank (Alan Cumming), but these one note characters have all pretty much shown all their limited colors in the previous ninety minutes.

Both Mira Sorvino (as the slightly more intelligent of the pair) and Lisa Kudrow have stacks of  awards demonstrating their comic prowess, but even they can’t spin gold from dross. They don’t make very convincing high schoolers, but they do wear some of their bizarre fashions with flair. Janeane Garofalo walks away with every one of her scenes as the acid-barbed, deadpan Heather. As the princely high school couple now unhappily married and living a sham, Julia Campbell and Vincent Ventresca play their parts to detestable perfection. Camryn Manheim pops in and out as the nerd that even the nerds don’t like, but Alan Cumming does just adequate work with his shy boy-turned-millionaire. Justin Theroux has a terrific cameo as a cowboy with a secret or two to share.

Video Quality

4.5/5

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is faithfully reproduced in this 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. The candy-colored design palette for the film looks super in high definition, and there is no blooming or smearing with the bright colors on display. Flesh tones are natural throughout the presentation, and black levels reach a pleasing depth. Sharpness is also first-rate. The film has been divided into 16 chapters.

Audio Quality

4/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix uses many pop tunes as the major component of the surround channels. There is little in the way of ambient sound utilized to extend the soundstage with most of the front channels doing the heavy lifting for the movie. Dialogue has been well recorded and has been placed firmly in the center channel.

Special Features

1.5/5

A production featurette is too brief to offer anything more than a sound bite or two from Lisa Kudrow, Mira Sorvino, Janeane Garofalo, and director David Mirkin, producer Laurence Mark, and writer Robin Schiff. It runs 3 ½ minutes in 480i.

The theatrical trailer runs 1 ¾ minutes in 480i.

The disc offers promo trailers for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, and The Avengers.

In Conclusion

2.5/5 (not an average)

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion has some impressive actors but a script that’s too contrived and grounded in either meanness or inanity. Fans will enjoy the punchy high definition picture and good sound, but others may find that a rental is more the order of the day.

Matt Hough

Charlotte, NC

Sorry, I LOVE this movie, as well as Mirkin's other, Heartbreakers. It's not a great movie, but like Clue a guilty pleasure

Originally Posted by Moe Dickstein /t/322794/romy-and-micheles-high-school-reunion-blu-ray-review#post_3957903
Sorry, I LOVE this movie, as well as Mirkin's other, Heartbreakers. It's not a great movie, but like Clue a guilty pleasure

Click to expand...

I have to say I agree with Moe. I was very excited when I found this was coming to Blu-ray. Its like Clueless for adults, the fantastic 80's soundtrack doesn't hurt either. With the lack of substantial features I would rather see it closer to the $10 range, but I think I will be taking the plunge anyway on this and Adventures in Babysitting.

Yep, I have to admit, I loved this one too. I thought it was very cute. "Clueless" for adults is an apt fitting. All the jokes about inventing the post-it cracked me up.

One of my favorite comedies of all-time. It also has nostalgia, a great soundtrack, real heart, and a great message. And it is hilarious!

Adam Gregorich said:

I have to say I agree with Moe.  I was very excited when I found this was coming to Blu-ray.  Its like Clueless for adults, the fantastic 80's soundtrack doesn't hurt either.  With the lack of substantial features I would rather see it closer to the $10 range, but I think I will be taking the plunge anyway on this and Adventures in Babysitting.

Click to expand...

I think Babysitting will be at Best Buy next week (7.99 after the US coupon). By most reports this will not be available in stores so getting the extra coupon will be difficult.

David Norman said:

I think Babysitting will be at Best Buy next week (7.99 after the US coupon). By most reports this will not be available in stores so getting the extra coupon will be difficult.

Click to expand...

Thanks David, do you mean the "trade-in" coupon?

For the record, I was actually the one to invent Post-Its

I must join the majority of posters here and say that I too, LOVE this movie. It is exactly how I remember High School and the somewhat dreaded, 10 yr reunion. I will get it, day one.

Adam Gregorich said:

Thanks David, do you mean the "trade-in" coupon?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that 'US coupon' means Upgrade and Save coupon.

TravisR said:

I'm pretty sure that 'US coupon' means Upgrade and Save coupon.

Click to expand...

Yep, that's the one. The $5 Trade-in or Upgrade and Save (U&S, but I typo'd the heck out of that one). good through next Saturday so another 7 days to ponder what to buy. At least next week they'll
actually be some new blood with High Fideltiy, Grosse Pointe, Adv in Babysitting, and I'm still holding a little hope for Romy to show up in stores.

I'll be picking this one up as well -- yeah, a bit of a guilty pleasure that even my wife likes a lot. Hopefully, it'll be available for BB's U&S deal.

Cheers!

_Man_

Moe Dickstein said:

Sorry, I LOVE this movie, as well as Mirkin's other, Heartbreakers. It's not a great movie, but like Clue a guilty pleasure

Click to expand...

At a "Romy" event earlier this year, writer Robin Schiff sort of knocked David Mirkin's treatment. She told us that Mirkin's direction and original edit tried to hit all the "jokes," and that it simply didn't work. The original cut was so bad, Robin said, that the studio was thinking of shelving it. Schiff went into the editing room herself and did what she could with it. The result is the film you've all been watching for 15 years!
I think it's common knowledge that I was on that set. Mirkin had a strange presence on that set, for a director. His normal habit was to get exactly seven takes of everything and call it a wrap. Always. Seven. I don't know if anybody else even noticed it. I would count. It was always seven takes of everything--every angle, every bit of coverage. And then we'd move on. Weird! Other than that, he barely participated in the "direction" of the film, as far as that goes. I don't think he understood the subtleties of that material. Few people could. I saw the script and didn't understand it either. There seemed to be nothing funny whatsoever in that script. As Schiff pointed out in the live event--it was never a script about what was on the printed page. It was a script about the comedy of reactions and feelings. Those things are easy to film, but hard to convey on paper. Mirkin was looking for laugh lines and such. When he couldn't find them, he tried to force them into the situation. But he couldn't--that's not what the movie was ever about.
I walked away from that set thinking it would be the last I'd ever hear of Romy and Michele. The filming went that bad. Nobody seemed happy about it. It got to the point where all the main actors were basically going through the motions. It was a very weird, tense 40 day shoot.
And then I attended a premiere in Westwood. And people were laughing at things and lines I never realized were even attempting to be funny. That film was really firing on all cylinders that night. And I looked around in the semi-snooty Hollywood-type crowd. There were a lot of celebrities and very famous comedians in there. Even the Fonz was there. And these big-shot funny people were laughing their heads off at our little sad-sack of an R-rated After School Special. Wow--I learned a lot that night!

Ethan Riley said:

I think it's common knowledge that I was on that set.

Click to expand...

Wow, thanks for chiming in - I remember seeing this in the theater, completely loving it (I think I was 17 at the time) and have always loved it ever since, probably watched it at least 20 times and though it's been a while, this disc will be a great excuse to have another look.
Would have been interesting to see what might have happened with Schiff directing, but I think certainly you can discern Mirkin's influence by looking at Heartbreakers - it's certainly a "bigger" and "goofier" picture - especially Gene Hackman.

I always hoped some deleted scenes would turn up for this movie. I'm a huge fan of an L.A. band called The Muffs and the singer, Kim Shattuck had a bit part that ended up on the cutting room floor.

Hmmm....interesting. When this movie first came out I remember seeing the trailer for it and thought....STUPID. I looked at the trailer above and thought....STUPID. Not one funny thing in it. Perhaps I will laugh if I watch the whole movie? I guess I'll have to watch this some time.

Derek Miner said:

I always hoped some deleted scenes would turn up for this movie. I'm a huge fan of an L.A. band called The Muffs and the singer, Kim Shattuck had a bit part that ended up on the cutting room floor.

Click to expand...

I don't know of that scene. The major cuts included a bit in an AA meeting plus about 1/3 of the main reunion sequence was cut. Most of it was redundant material and exposition. There was one funny bit that had to be cut because it sounded like they were making fun of the car brand. In it, Will Ferrell played a parking valet who Romy paid to come up to them and announce that she had supposedly left her lights on. That would have been his film debut. I have the script lying around somewhere; I'll try to post it later.

I fall between the "it stinks" and "it's great" viewpoints. I was the right age to like it in 1997 - my own 10-year reunion was two years earlier - and wanted to enjoy it but thought it was spotty at best.

I feel the same 15 years later. It has some laughs but seems too long and too thin.

BTW, I disagree that the dream sequence doesn't tell you it's a dream sequence - it's not totally blatant, but it throws out some hints...

Anything to see two pretty women in their bare feet is an automatic plus from me.

I do love this film (and consider it one of the quintessential 90's comedies), but I always feel the story loses it's direction and focus in the last 20 minutes or so.