Romy and Michele's High School Reunion put Sorvino's then soaring career into a tail dive.
It took in $30M at the box office. Not a flop, but far below expectations. At the end of the day, movies are about making money. So despite proving her chops as a comedy actress, Sorvino didn't get a second chance. She tried many other genres, but somehow always picked movies that didn't do well at the box office. (She's now in a new TV series: Intruders) Kudrow has done a bit better, but never became an A-lister.
Why didn't Romy and Michele do better? Perhaps it was expectations. The caliber of the cast and the fun premise has us expecting something far better. On first viewing I was very disappointed. I almost hated it.
But the first 45 minutes is very good. It has enough laughs, and the characters (and the actresses) have a lot of charisma. Romy and Michele are a Folie à deux; a happy pair of fools who share the same delusion. They're fun to watch and it looks like we're in for a real treat.
But after that first 45 minutes, with a few exceptions, the movie falls flat. The last hour of the movie is about the reunion itself, but this is poorly told and poorly directed. Laughs are few and far between. The whole thing is carried on two very weak jokes, which in a sitcom would no more two throwaway lines. But instead of hitting us with new jokes, Director Mirkin and Writer Schiff recycle the same two weak jokes over and over again.
This has been done before and done much better. Even teen comedies like Patrick Dempsey's "Money can't buy me love" have a far more compelling plot. So after the build up, we're left disappointed. Perhaps it was bad word of mouth that killed it.
But I watched it again, and while my comments still apply about that last hour, there's still a lot to like. Sorvino and Kudrow are brilliant, and there are iconic scenes (like Garofalo's Cowboy) which carry a lot of weight and a few good gags (the suit cracked me up). If there were more of these, the movie would have been a classic. The interpretive dance at the end is nerdy but very sweet and I loved their "Stayin' Alive" too.
For the first 45 minutes I'd give it 8/10 (4 stars), but that last hour drags it down to 6/10 (2 stars).
There have been attempts to relaunch Romy and Michele. In 2005 Shiff launched a TV series which by IMDb comments was badly written. Sorvino and Kudrow are begging Disney (Touchstone) to let them do a sequel, but Disney is baulking. Perhaps they can't imagine a movie with two 40 year old female leads? Perhaps they think the Valley girl undertones are passé? Perhaps Disney don't want to give up the rights either? Hollywood is competitive, and studios have been known to buy rights to scripts just to stop another studios possibly making a hit.
And perhaps after two disappointing outings they don't think Shiff can deliver? I think Shiff had a wonderful germ of an idea here. If she stands back and lets more experienced comedy writers take it further, her franchise may yet deliver.
It took in $30M at the box office. Not a flop, but far below expectations. At the end of the day, movies are about making money. So despite proving her chops as a comedy actress, Sorvino didn't get a second chance. She tried many other genres, but somehow always picked movies that didn't do well at the box office. (She's now in a new TV series: Intruders) Kudrow has done a bit better, but never became an A-lister.
Why didn't Romy and Michele do better? Perhaps it was expectations. The caliber of the cast and the fun premise has us expecting something far better. On first viewing I was very disappointed. I almost hated it.
But the first 45 minutes is very good. It has enough laughs, and the characters (and the actresses) have a lot of charisma. Romy and Michele are a Folie à deux; a happy pair of fools who share the same delusion. They're fun to watch and it looks like we're in for a real treat.
But after that first 45 minutes, with a few exceptions, the movie falls flat. The last hour of the movie is about the reunion itself, but this is poorly told and poorly directed. Laughs are few and far between. The whole thing is carried on two very weak jokes, which in a sitcom would no more two throwaway lines. But instead of hitting us with new jokes, Director Mirkin and Writer Schiff recycle the same two weak jokes over and over again.
This has been done before and done much better. Even teen comedies like Patrick Dempsey's "Money can't buy me love" have a far more compelling plot. So after the build up, we're left disappointed. Perhaps it was bad word of mouth that killed it.
But I watched it again, and while my comments still apply about that last hour, there's still a lot to like. Sorvino and Kudrow are brilliant, and there are iconic scenes (like Garofalo's Cowboy) which carry a lot of weight and a few good gags (the suit cracked me up). If there were more of these, the movie would have been a classic. The interpretive dance at the end is nerdy but very sweet and I loved their "Stayin' Alive" too.
For the first 45 minutes I'd give it 8/10 (4 stars), but that last hour drags it down to 6/10 (2 stars).
There have been attempts to relaunch Romy and Michele. In 2005 Shiff launched a TV series which by IMDb comments was badly written. Sorvino and Kudrow are begging Disney (Touchstone) to let them do a sequel, but Disney is baulking. Perhaps they can't imagine a movie with two 40 year old female leads? Perhaps they think the Valley girl undertones are passé? Perhaps Disney don't want to give up the rights either? Hollywood is competitive, and studios have been known to buy rights to scripts just to stop another studios possibly making a hit.
And perhaps after two disappointing outings they don't think Shiff can deliver? I think Shiff had a wonderful germ of an idea here. If she stands back and lets more experienced comedy writers take it further, her franchise may yet deliver.
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