Drew Turney
Interesting in that out of all the ”Friends” cast members’ first cinematic efforts, this Lisa Kudrow starrer was one of the only successes, along with Courtney Cox in ”Scream” (the duds were David Schwimmer’s ”The Pallbearer”, Jennifer Aniston’s ”Picture Perfect”, Matt LeBlanc’s ”Lost in Space” and Matthew Perry’s ”Fools Rush In”).
And whether it was just as easy script to work to – treading familiar comic territory – or Kudrow hardly had to extend her ”Friends” character (Phoebe) at all, it works.
Romy and Michelle have been invited to their ten-year high school reunion, and they have to prepare to brave the derision of the beautiful people who made their lives miserable at school. In that regard, the movie capitalises on the same setup as everything from Revenge of the Nerds to Happy Days – we’ve all been picked on at school, so we can instantly recognise and identify with the leads.
We see their lives, friendship and the misery their teenage years were through flashbacks and the climax at the reunion itself.
Both actresses (and the script) also take every opportunity to plug the dumb blonde joke as far as they can, and the laughs – while not particularly original, are delivered with skill and precision thanks to the intelligence and timing of Sorvino and Kudrow.
Stealing the show as she always does is the pint sized, uber-feminist storm in a human body Janeane Garofalo as weird classmate Heather, her sarcasm as cutting as her tone.
Happy smiles, bursts of laughter thanks to inventive characterisations and teen revenge all round make for a great time to be had.
Blu-ray details/extras : Fairly good transfer, noticable mainly because the music pops, is accompanied by a fun EPK, the trailer and sneak peeks of Disney’s other upcoming releases.
