We're diving into the fun and fabulous world of "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion" where two best friends navigate the ups and downs of adulthood with a dash of humor and a sprinkle of nostalgia. The main point here? It's all about the pressure to impress at reunions and the lengths we go to mask our insecurities! From the cold chill of Gopher Gulch to the sunny vibes of LA, we're exploring how Romy and Michelle's wild scheme to reinvent themselves takes a hilarious twist when their lies unravel. Trust me, you don’t want to miss our playful banter as we dissect their journey and the colorful characters they encounter along the way! Whether it's the fashionista head of the clique or the quirky outsider, we’ll share laughs and insights that make you rethink the true meaning of success, friendship, and, of course, the perfect outfit for a reunion! So grab your fuzzy earmuffs and settle in for a delightful ride down memory lane!

Takeaways:

1. Romy and Michelle's journey emphasizes the value of friendship over societal expectations and success.
2. The film cleverly critiques high school reunion culture, showcasing how past insecurities resurface.
3. The characters' humorous attempts to impress others ultimately lead them to embrace their true selves.
4. Their story illustrates how authenticity wins over pretense, especially in a social setting.
5. The movie serves as a nostalgic reminder of the pressures faced by young women in the 90s.
6. With relatable themes, it encourages viewers to appreciate their friendships and personal growth.

Oh, we.

We're just having the opposite of that song.

Heat Wave.

You know, it's not quite a Bing Crosby movie because there's not that much booze.

I don't know if anyone has that much booze, but we're in the middle of a wintry event here in Golfer Gulch.

And even though, as you said, Matt Cooter Jack, he only.

He only says a handful of words, he is a resourceful person, because when we weren't looking and we were off for a little while there, he moved in.

And, well, we've got a bunker under the store.

We don't have to worry about not having a sandwich up here or the fridge being empty.

He's got it covered.

I'm sorry, were you talking to me?

I had my earphones on.

What?

It's cold.

It is cold.

In fact, Matt's earphones are the fuzzy kind.

They're actually.

They're also earmuffs.

Sometimes he forgets when others are talking to him because he's wearing those fuzzy ear muff headphones.

Well, you have to.

She still won't pay for heating.

I mean, if it weren't for Cooter Jack down in the basement burning stuff.

I don't look at freezing up here.

And there's a reason that while we sell those socks here, the fashionable ones that have all the 80s characters on them, I mean, I'm wearing, like, three pair right now.

Yeah, well, it is what it is.

Is that cat still stuck in the ice outside?

I should hope not.

Don't.

Don't traumatize me this early.

I'm still getting over the energy drink machine running low.

Everything's running low.

We haven't had supplies in practically a week.

Not that anybody remembers that we're here.

Right?

Well, I mean, I guess people just don't get all excited for the punch cards as much as they used to.

No, but I just rent out a Romancing the Stone.

Ooh, now somebody's gonna have a date night.

Right?

Right.

And that reminds me, I've got some stones I need to.

To.

To put in the toaster oven there before I go out to my car later.

I bet you do.

I think we all need to put our stones in the.

Well, be careful where you go with that one there.

I don't think that the.

The counter isn't quite that low in the break room, but we are trying to channel a warm thought or two because, well, the adventures that we're going to be discussing today, they take place on the west coast there where they might Be wearing a little bit less than they do here in Vidya stores in the Midwest.

I think that, well, we have a tape.

We do.

Play this.

Oh, oh, leave the door open.

Warmth.

Warmth.

Well, I don't know if we want that warmth.

It is a fallout shelter and I don't know what's down there.

But anyways, we're gonna figure out what, what time frame we're gonna be playing house in today.

And well, here the tape is gonna go into that vcr.

Oh, oh, okay.

Well, I'm getting the vibes here.

And that's not the same as the vapors vibes.

We saw that last season.

We did.

And hey, if I look outside, people are not only bundled up, but they're wearing it.

Wearing some trendy fashions there.

I'm seeing some, well, some hair product that I haven't seen in a while.

That lady's hair could pop balloons.

Oh, look, it's the something about Mary cut.

And what is that?

Somebody, Somebody is.

Where?

He's carrying one of those CD playing disc mans.

I have not seen one of those since high school.

Oh, man's CD mans.

Oh, I, I think that that gives us an idea of where we might be.

But let's let the man in the box here tell us.

Good afternoon, time travelers.

Today you are.

Just days later, the world also lost humanitarian icon Mother Teresa on the global stage.

Hong Kong was formally handed back to China after more than 150 years of British rule.

While the Asian financial crisis sent shockwaves through global markets, the year also brought shocking violence with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.

Amid the upheaval, future pop culture figures were born, including Kylie Jenner and Camila Cabello, signaling the arrival of a new generation that would soon dominate headlines of its own.

Oh yeah, those are some real big names to be talking about.

I, I'm, I'm still not keeping up with those Cardassians.

Although I, I, I have been wanting to, to re watch Deep Space Nine.

I was gonna say.

I'm, I'm all for the Bishorens.

Those Cardassians are just awful creatures.

I, I, I could have blinked in the time between high school and the new millennium could have happened because, I mean, I remember what I was doing when the New Year's came on the millennium there, but it Felt like it had just been yesterday that we were watching the news and that terrible accident happened with Princess Diana in it.

I, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing and how hard I cried when that happened.

And for those of you who don't get into biographies and autobiographies and whatnot, I don't know if this is something that you're familiar with, Matt, but in more recent years, it's come to light that the driver of the vehicle that carried Princess Diana might have been under the influence when the accident happened.

There's so many theories and so many movies and so many TV shows and miniseries, I can't even watch them anymore.

Yeah, I just, it's so, I guess.

The gist of it is that it was a hotel employee who wasn't expecting to work that night, so may have tied one on beforehand.

So.

But anyway, so.

All right, well, Hong Kong went back to China and Mother Teresa left the earth that year.

And well, despite the cold weather, it is nice to know how the other folks are doing.

How the people who are maybe a little bit more social than perhaps to you and I.

Although we shouldn't let that reputation get out because we do need people to come in and rent from time to time.

Let's look at the movies.

Well, let's see here.

Okay, here we go.

We can go see titanic.

Oh, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet who selfishly wouldn't let him on the door.

And there was plenty of room.

Just saying.

Oh, there's Men in Black with Will Smith.

Keep your Tommy Lee Jones out of my life.

Anyway, then, oh, Lost World.

Jurassic park with Jeff Goldblum and Julianne Moore.

It seems like I just saw that last June.

Oh, wait, yeah, that was the ninth version of it.

We also have Air Force One with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldham.

I think that was before what's his name?

Liam.

Oh, Liam Neeson.

Yes.

Before he became the person who was always having somebody kidnapped and stolen from the plane.

Right.

So there's that.

And as Good As It Gets with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt.

I, no.

What?

I don't even remember if I saw that one.

But we're not seeing that one.

Okay.

Oh, my goodness.

Well, I can't promise you we won't ever see it, but I might put it to the side so that it, you can't blame me for it being next season.

I, I, I, I will blame you what?

I just watch for you.

I know, but they say happy days are here again because we're gonna.

The fonts is in it.

We're gonna do something a little bit more fun around the next corner here.

Or at least that's what I've heard.

I'm not a huge Jack Nicholson fan.

Yeah, I admired his career just for the variety of characters that he played.

As Good As It Gets wasn't something that was on my radar when it first came out, but I do find Helen Hunt charming.

Oh, yeah?

Yeah, I watched it for her.

And then Greg Kinnear played a, A good character on that show.

He was, well, he was a gay man, or his character was a gay man who had been, had been abused.

And for the time frame that that took place, that was sort of continuing on with representing our community.

It's like, okay, I, I'm pretty.

I think I have seen it then.

Yeah, that sounds really familiar.

Well, all I will say is that as Good as It Gets has some pretty good lines in it, including one where Helen Hunt's character goes to visit Jack Nicholson.

And Jack Nicholson, of course, is just this shut in, and he decided to spend his money on finding Helen Hunt's character's mom a new doctor.

And it's actually, it's actually played by the guy who was Egon in Ghostbusters.

The slightly shorter version was when she came to knock on his door one evening, he thought it was somebody else, and he said to her through the door, I'm sorry, but we, we don't open for the no sexos until something or other.

Because she made it.

She made it clear that even though he was trying to be a gentleman to her, that she had no interest in seeing him with no clothes on.

Oh, well, that happens at times.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I liked Jack Nicholson before he became Jack Nicholson because he, he did.

He was a really good, unique performer actor, and then he became Jack Nicholson, and they just kept putting him in the same damn character over and over and over.

Yeah, I, it started with Michael Keaton's films and then going from there.

Wait, he was in Michael Keaton film?

Oh, he was the Joker.

Oh, no.

I, I, I mean, back when he, Even when he was in that hotel movie that.

The Shining.

Yes.

Thank you.

I'm like, I should know this back then.

I mean, he was, he was really uni.

Really freaky.

But then he just ended up being cast as the same character over and over.

It's like, where's your, where's your stretch?

Yeah, like, a lot of Movies.

Oftentimes I will see movies with Jack Nicholson in because I admire their co star.

Right.

Well, I mean, look at Jeff Goldblum.

I mean, Jeff Goldblum in the 70s was like, wow.

And then he became Jeff Goldblum and it was just Jeff Goldblum in the movie.

Oh, well, that vcr.

So what am I watching?

Yeah, that VCR is blinking.

Let's figure out what we're gonna spend our time doing here today besides freezing and shivering and making.

I'll go for Lost World.

I was gonna say.

Were you?

Were you the.

Well, I. I know you grew up in different parts, but out here and Gopher Gulch, the kids on the bus still make those.

Those little.

They stick their faces on the bus windows, which isn't really very hygienic.

And they.

They make all those little snowflakes and angels and all that.

But anyways, I have a question for you though.

On this bus, did the wheels go round and round?

Right.

And was Lily Tomlin doing the voice?

That was Marcia or Marcia Wallace.

Something.

Today you're watching the screwball comedy Romy and Michelle.

Ten years after their high school graduation, Romy, Mira Sorvino and Michelle haven't exactly accomplished everything that they set out to do.

Despite their strong friendship, their personal and professional lives are still lacking.

When they hear of their upcoming high school reunion, they take it as an opportunity to show their classmates how much they've changed.

First by trying to reform themselves, then by creating a lie that eventually spins out of control.

Alrighty.

Wow.

I haven't seen this one in ages.

So let's get that guitar rewind through.

Time into movie night blockbusters, indies in black and white.

From 80s thrills to silver screen dreams.

Trapped in the past by a time machine.

Each side's the door for DJs.

The past is present and you're gonna want more.

More.

Oh, it's 97.

Roman.

Michelle, there's a reunion.

And I mean, who hasn't looked back and said, we didn't do everything we set out to do.

We didn't start the fire.

What?

Exactly.

So just as with any story, there was a production put together before the studio executive said, yep, we'll spend money on this.

There was a screenplay and there are three acts in any play.

So the setup.

This is where we start off with the problem with romeo Michelle in 97 with Mia Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow, who wasn't quite in NBC's Friends just yet.

Wait, what?

But the film opens by introducing best friends Romy and Michelle.

Two carefree fashion obsessed twenty somethings.

I mean if you're, if you're from any family that has more than one parent who's working or who isn't obsessed with fashion.

But they live together in Los Angeles, of course.

And Romy work.

I'm getting warm just hearing the story, Matt.

I know, right?

Romy works as a Jaguar dealership cashier.

And Michelle, well, she's unemployed.

I mean, you know, who's the boss in the 80s, didn't you know the boss have a Jaguar?

She was inspired in those 80s.

Michelle, she's unemployed.

And they both spend their days eating junk food, watching TV and pursuing half baked creative dreams with their little success.

Because you know, fun to me.

What do you do after high school if you don't have motivation, right?

When Romy runs into former classmate played by Janine Garofalo, by the way, talk about a cameo.

Oh my God, it's Heather.

She tells her about their upcoming 10 year high school reunion and the duo panics about how unimpressive their lives appear compared to their successful peers.

Because whereas she's the gal handing out the keys to the cars at the dealership, her friend played by Janine Garofalo, was there for her car.

Talk about opposite ends of the the experience.

Here, determined to avoid embarrassment and win acceptance from the once fearsome a group, the popular kids, they concoct an elaborate lie claiming to be wealthy businesswomen who invented post it notes, complete with borrowed Jaguar and new outfits to impress their old classmates.

And this desperate plan sets the film's comedic and emotional journey in motion.

Now I think it's fair to say that the 80s and a lot of movies from this time frame inspired that motivation of having an outlook of success.

You have who's the Boss and that Jaguar, which now she's working for that dealership.

And then you have several movies from this time frame including Two Wong Fu, which when they are going to Where?

Where was it?

Well, there.

There's a scene in this movie that we'll talk about in a bit where they.

You're talking about career girls.

But there's a scene in 2 Wong Fu where to sort of soften the conversation about them being drag queens, they mentioned that they're career girls.

Wait, they were drag queens?

And then of course there was not from exactly 97, but not too far from it.

Don't tell mom, the Babysitter's Dead.

That's another iconic movie about business minded women.

And wait, what it is?

It is because she had aspirations.

She wanted A job because she had to hold up her end of the fort when mom went off on her vac.

Her business trip and she was the oldest kid at home.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves because that might be a future topic, Matt.

We are, yeah.

Yeah.

Now that I've spun your head around and we, we're coming back to 97 and we're thinking about warmer places than Gopher Gulch.

Romy and Michelle, we've got some questions that go along with this.

Okay, well let's discuss them.

Yeah, I'll, I'll take one.

You may, maybe you take the next one here.

Why do you think Romeo, Michelle feel so much pressure to impress people they haven't seen since high school?

Okay, here's the thing.

Actually it was more roamy, I think because Michelle, what she says toward the end of the movie, she's like, actually I always thought we had a lot of fun in high school and I always thought that we had a lot of fun in life.

And I was pretty happy.

You were the one who said that we weren't.

And yeah, I think kind of different things for different people there.

But I think the thing is, is that it, it's not necessarily just them.

I mean it is societal pressure and kind of.

Actually what I thought you were getting at a little bit earlier is that I think a lot of movies are especially around that time period, like the, the 70s, the 80s, especially the ones where they have people go back to high school reunions and they're around schools and stuff like that.

I think it, I think it puts a lot of pressure on society that you have to go back and show that your success, especially for the underdog and show oh, look at me, I'm, I've become this hahaha.

And anyone that doesn't match that pressure, well, if you don't impress just jungle back, that kind of thing, it's, it's only there.

High school reunions are, seem to be set up just for that kind of pressure to go back and show how great you've made it and how successful you are.

Yeah, I, I, I think that, and of course this will continue into the discussion as we go on.

But Romy and Michelle are two people that are looking back on the 10 years from high school with different perspectives.

Because as we get into the discussion, Romy is the one who's working and Michelle isn't.

Now we don't know for how long Michelle's been out of work, but.

Right.

That, that could also be based upon background.

Maybe Michelle came From a family that had money and maybe she never had to work.

And maybe Romy came from a family that was more middle class.

And she's always taken for granted that.

She has to work well, but you're also talking.

See, here's the thing, is that you're talking about la.

If they're living it well, and it might depend on what part of LA that they're living in, but especially LA is not a place where it's cheap to live.

When they're like, oh, she works at a, A Jaguar dealership and she's unemployed.

And I'm just like, how the hell are they.

Like the junk food scene when they had like thousands of dollars of cheap junk food sprayed out.

And I'm like, okay, how the hell can you afford that name brand too?

I mean, it wasn't tortilla chips, it was Doritos.

That was product placement, let me tell you.

Of course.

Yeah, they, they had the pressure to impress folks.

Even talk about that list a little bit as we go on here because we both has have had enough years between our educational experience and stepping into life here.

But that's my thought on that.

There's.

What is the next question, sir?

Well, what does the fake post it note story reveal about how they decide how they define what success is at the beginning of the film?

Because they make up this fun little story when they go back that they invented post it notes.

And I'm just like, oh, girl.

And I'm thinking, okay, remember, they didn't have Internet really at that point.

Not where they could go look stuff up like that.

But come on, you could open a notebook and go to the store and buy a post it note and see.

Was the reunion there.

They weren't just making things up because this movie came out in 97.

They were actually saying these gals went to school and graduated in 87 is 10 years from now.

People who have gone to this, watch this movie in the theater should be able to relate to these characters because Maybe it's been 10 years for them too.

But this, the post it note story and the success, I think it.

Well, basically they wanted something that made people wonder about them because anybody could own a restaurant or a gas station or whatever, but if you did something that everybody knows about or uses, it's like, wow, this person cured cancer or whatever, got a Nobel Prize.

We don't question how they got there, we just admire them.

Right.

Because I originally they were going to say that Michelle.

Michelle's character, that she was a freelance fashion designer or something like that.

And when they said that, I was like, oh, that sounds.

That sounds cool.

Like, if somebody said that to me at a high school reunion, I'd be like, oh, really?

That's kind of cool.

Whereas I guess back then they were all like, no, but if they.

They designed post it notes and like, Heather.

Heather's character, the.

Janine Garofalo's character.

She's like, yes, I'm super popular because I designed the fast burning cigarette paper.

And I was just like, okay, well, I thought you made a lot of money off of that.

But that sounds kind of.

I. I mean, it's a little specific that they say post it notes because that's a trademark thing.

I'm sorry, product placement.

Right.

But I. I think that the original idea would have been easier for them to have carried out because it's like, nobody questions that you're a fashion designer or whatever.

Okay, you didn't say.

You didn't say that you worked for Vogue.

For all we know, you could have refreshed the local convent's wardrobe.

Right, exactly.

You could have done all sorts of, like, really cool stuff.

And.

But hey, there we are.

And then they end up.

Well, anyway, we'll talk about that later.

Right, well, and in point of fact, we.

I briefly mentioned Don't Tell mom, the Babysitter's Dead.

Come to find out, that came out in 91.

It was, well, more than a handful of years before Romy and Michelle.

But the important connection the fashion reference there is in Don't Tell mom, the Babysitter's Dead with Christina Applegate.

She.

She assumed that being involved in the fashion industry was going to be like Paris and Milan.

But no, they.

They made uniforms for people that worked in industries like restaurants and hospitals and things like that.

And if you take it out of that context, to the larger context of, like, our kind of world.

Right.

How is it, okay, we're looking at these movies where the.

The movie industry is defining women having success by clothing and fashion and girly things, rather than like, oh, I own an oil company or something.

Something like.

Something like that.

But it's, oh, I do girly stuff and success.

Yeah.

It's like, why should a woman have ideals that are different in terms of career?

It's like she could have just as easily own a chain of trans Wendy's.

Well, yeah, as I say, transmission mechanic shops or whatever.

Okay, well, how does the setup.

The Premise of them going to the reunion.

Establish Romy and Michelle's friendship as more important than careers, money, or popularity.

How does it establish.

Okay, well, I don't know, actually.

The setup.

I mean, basically it just shows that they were friends in high school.

They were the only two that hung out together.

They didn't have any other friends in their friend group.

How sad was that?

Right?

But they were happy.

They were happy with that.

Maybe Romy was a little unhappy sometimes.

She wanted to be popular, but Michelle was just like, oh, whatever.

It's all good.

I'm happy.

But they stayed friends for 10 years.

They're living together.

They're out.

And I love the little part where she saw, like, I don't know, maybe do you want to have sex and then see if you're a lesbian?

No, thank you.

But if we're not married by 30, let's.

Let's talk about this again.

That type of thing.

And I thought that was absolutely.

I mean, that just goes to show, like, they're close and how their friendship is strong.

And to think that the one fight they probably ever had was the one in the car on the way to the thing.

Right.

But other than that, they've never had any.

Any fights.

Right.

All right.

To that.

It's like, it establishes their friendship was important this whole time.

Yeah, they.

They've been there for each other ever since school.

And whatever they had in common from school has kept them together.

Well.

Right.

And like, Romy.

Romy is working.

Michelle's an employee, employed.

But neither of them give each other any crap about it.

They don't have careers.

They don't have boyfriends.

They don't have anything.

But they have each other, and that's enough for them until it's not.

It's like I. I felt the cultural door opening.

It's like just the fact that they mentioned that to each other as being possibly okay.

Opens that theoretical door to, like, well, maybe that is how you meet your future partner for life.

It's like you grew up together, and suddenly one day you decided, oh, I don't like the opposite sex.

No.

Or you're just like, I. I'm just comfortable with you and everything's fine, then we'll just.

We'll just make this work.

No.

Well, hey, you want to know a.

Little bit about the director, the man behind the camera?

Yeah.

What?

Who was responsible for this little trip down.

Okay, Stress lane.

No, yeah.

Reunion.

Reunion circle.

This was actually David Merkin.

Not.

And he was actually born in Los Angeles.

He knew a lot about Los Angeles, apparently.

And he was known.

He's known for doing a lot of character driven kind of satirical comedy.

He went to Harvard.

He actually was involved in the Harvard Lampoon, which is training ground for comedy writers, especially back in that time.

Excuse me.

He served as head writer, executive producer of.

You're not going to believe this, but like the Simpsons, okay.

During the early years when it was like new and like sharp and edgy and stuff.

But before that, his television critics credits actually include Newhart, the Larry Sanders show, and Get a Life, which were very cutting edge for their time.

Satirical, very kind of dry comedy shows.

But anyway, this was his only feature film as a director, and it has really became become a cultural iconic.

Like, everybody knows this movie if you mention it, unless you're like 10, 10 and under, maybe, but.

But it's a cultural legacy.

And he is known for really blending satire and compassion for misfits and unapologetically ambitious women.

And that is something that is really cool in the film industry especially is women who want to get ahead and be ambitious without having to apologize to it, like Lily Tomlin and.

And Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton.

They're not out there going, I'm so sorry.

I'm popular.

Right.

I mean, why are you paying attention to me?

Maybe because I'm speaking my mind.

But, yeah, don't worry, honey, I ain't.

Gonna die anytime soon.

Right, but that begs the question there because.

Well, Mr. Merkin there, he was a smart man.

He went to Harvard, as they say.

And maybe that's how he became an acquaintance with the leading lady.

Yes, but.

Or at least they both got the same newsletters because Ms. Mia Sorvino, she.

She went to Harvard too.

And that's actually one of the interesting little pieces of trivia about the cast of Romy and Michelle.

Yeah.

Despite the characters that they played, the women who presented characters of Romy and Michelle were on quite the opposite of the spectrum.

They were.

They are very strong, cultured, educated.

Yeah, yeah.

Women who have degrees and call the shots.

And I'm stalling because we actually have like eight minutes till intermission, so I guess I could talk about her.

So.

Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, come on.

She.

She graduated magna class.

Come loudy yeah.

Mia Cervino, the.

The lady who played Romy was born in September 28th of 67.

She.

She could have been in the stroller at Woodstock, but she.

She and Lisa Kudrow were both just shy of 30 when they played Romeo and Michelle.

That conversation of if we're still single by the time we're 30 was quite close to the truth for those two ladies there.

Mia Sorvino was the daughter of actor and director Paul Sorvino.

And though she initially pursued academics rather than acting, she graduated at the top of her class, as we said, magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in ACE East Asian Studies.

And she's fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

Now, that's crazy.

I mean, as somebody who grew up in an area without much culture, you automatically think that some nations, like China, they all speak the same language, but there's like at least three or four different dialects, as they say.

More.

Yeah.

In that big country there.

And Mandarin is what they speak around the nation's capital there in Peking or Beijing, as it's also called.

Mia Savina achieved breakthrough success starring in Mighty Aphrodite, earning the Academy Award for best supporting Actress and a Golden Globe.

Her film credits include the Replacement Killers, Summer of Sam, and Quiz Show.

Now, I know about Quiz show because Christopher McDonald, who was that man who played the attractive first officer on the Enterprise C. In Star Trek the Next Generation.

Oh, yes, Daddy.

And then we have a.

There, we have a Star Trek connection.

He was in Quiz Show.

And that was one of Mia Sorvino's first movies.

And it's.

It's loosely based upon the history of some of television's first game shows.

Whether or not those things.

How they cheated.

Yes.

If Betty White were still with us, we could ask her all about her husband's career with Password.

All right.

Mia Savino has appeared extensively in television, including doing voice work, but.

Oh, well, okay, not this one.

She was in Modern Family, which.

That was that show that Ed o' Neill was in, and Hollywood.

And Mia Sorvino is an outspoken advocate for humanitarian causes, including anti trafficking efforts, so human trafficking and survivors rights.

So of the films that Maria Savino has been in, she has had between 40 to 50 movies and 15 to 20 of these were TV related.

No, that's on top of it.

Oh, that's on top of that.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

Mighty Aphrodite came out a couple of years before Romeo Michelle, her breakout role in 95.

And let's see, Romeo Michelle in 97.

Quiz show was in 94, and that was.

That included Robert Redford in that there.

Now Summer of Sam was a Spike Lee film.

And of course that's one of those up and coming directors.

He did things from a different direction and people take note if whether you've worked with certain directors and Spike Lee is one of those.

Nia Sorvino did her Spike lee film in 99.

And then one of her top films includes the replacement killers in 98.

This is where we get out our nerd box lunch boxes, compare our cards.

How many Mirror Sarvina cards do you have?

I have two.

And while Romeo Michelle is a good movie, as in an example of a 90s film, I would say that my favorite film of the two of Mia Sorvino's that I've seen is one called Mimic and that's actually a science sci fi film where they find these bugs that have evolved in the underworld like the subways of the big cities.

Wow, that's crazy.

I can't believe you've only seen two of her films.

I mean, she has worked extensively in television and movies and I mean, I've seen one and it was Romeo Michelle.

That's my favorite actually.

It's one of those things where it's like you, when you're looking through like the names of movies, sometimes you're like, well, I know that one.

Did I watch it?

I mean, I may have seen more and not realized it, but I know that I've seen Romeo Michelle.

I think she was great in that.

Well, I'm just going to go with that.

Yeah, yeah, Romeo Michelle, as we say it was a buddy movie.

I mean, before more recent years, somebody might have called it a chick flick, although it's not a typical chick flick.

These aren't women who are deeply involved in discussion of emotional things.

They just speak about their pasts in flashback sequences and then they realize, oh, wait a minute, that was an abusive situation.

And now as an adult, I wouldn't have tolerated that.

Right.

Well, and also it's.

It's one of those things where most chick flicks, especially something like this, you would think that their whole purpose in life would be that they were looking for guys and relationships and to get married.

And that's how their entire existence would be around finding a man.

And there is a little romantic type thing and stuff that kind of plays out, but it's not.

You don't end up with an end.

It's not the most.

It's not the most important thing.

And they become Dead.

It's more about their friendship, not about.

Do they try to date.

That's why we would.

In.

In more recent years, we would call this more of a buddy film.

Yeah, it's.

It's not gender specific.

And my buddy.

But I don't know that this was featured in any of the trailers, per se.

Or they might have featured little clips of movies on commercial interruptions on network tv.

But there is a moment in Romeo and Michelle that I would hope was in one of the promotions.

And you just hit the nail on the head when you talked about relationships and being with people.

At the reunion, Michelle, played by Lisa Kudrow, sees the troop of a group, the.

The clique of popular girls.

They're all pregnant, but she's like.

But she's.

She sees the click of popular girls.

They're all pregnant, but she doesn't call them pregnant.

She's like, you all got fat, right?

And they're all like.

And she's like, yeah, right.

It was funny because, like, the first thing I was thinking, she's like, and.

And the.

The one.

The head, a gay, horrible woman.

She was all like, yes, this is my third.

And I'm like, that's your third in 10 years.

Okay.

Apparently you got pregnant right on prom night or graduation or whatever and started your family right then.

And that's how you trapped the.

The guy that was supposed to be popular and.

Oh, my God, if that's the most popular thing that school has to offer.

But I was just like.

And nobody commented on that.

Like, oh, wow.

That leads into my favorite moment, which we'll talk about in a moment.

But we are at about the halfway mark in our show.

And so we're gonna take a brief break for some nostalgia, some ads and jingles, some thoughts from times gone by and from 97's perspective.

I can only just imagine the kind of things that we're gonna be having in her ears.

It might be fragrance.

Back then, it was always about somebody whispering in your ear, this magnificent scent.

And it usually only had one name, like impersonation, because someone would walk up to you, inevitably, in a store and spray you with something, and it's like, get away from me.

They like when you walk by and they spray you, and then they're like, ejaculation.

Right?

Don't you.

Don't you want me to meet you in the back room?

Wow.

So we're back.

So, yeah, aside from that, which I hope was in a clip that they used to promote the movie calling the troop of the popular gals fat.

My other favorite moment at about this part, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

Maybe we should actually talk about conflict and then I'll tell you.

Okay, well let me, let me tell you a little bit about the conflict.

Okay?

Yeah.

All right.

Before the reunion, they desperately attempt the more you know, traditional markers of success, like trying to lose weight, which they did not need to, right?

And then find boyfriends which like okay, whatever.

And then secure impressive jobs, right.

All within like a couple weeks before the reunion and it all fails spectacularly.

And then of course, on the road to Tucson, which they are in this car that's supposed to be impressive but can barely go a few feet without stopping, right?

Anyway, the pressure and incidents, security just boil over and they end up getting in this stupid argument, which is barely even an argument about who's smarter and more responsible for this made up post it story that they're gonna tell, right?

They're leading their.

And basically it leads to this kind of fracture in their friendship, which is apparently the first and hopefully only when they arrive at the reunion though, in their sharp business suits and a borrowed Jaguar and the A group greets them with skepticism and snide remarks, as does everybody else, right?

And then of course there's in the middle of.

Romy is in the middle of telling her like posted story when who walks in but Heather Mooney.

And she basically is like, no, you didn't invent it.

It was this guy named blah blah blah for the Emperor Court, blah blah blah.

And then of course all the a gays just laugh and oh, it's just miserable for her.

But anyway.

But Heather actually exposing the life forces them to confront the truth about themselves and sets the stage for their reconciliation and a really authentic comeback.

And I think that was really sweet.

Oh yes, and speaking of that authentic comeback, it was almost like a moment in a superhero comic where mild mannered Clark Kent or Diana Prince steps into a moment where they realize that there's a panic and now they need to dig their heels in and muster their resources.

Romeo and Michelle practically do a Diana Prince spin and discard their mundane businesswoman clothes and turn into their little.

Pardon the term, I'm not trying to be chauvinist here, but sex kitten outfits.

And I don't mean hot sexually, I mean like top tier cool outfits.

Like you just looked at them and you're like, oh, now that's, that's really cool.

They were very space age and they.

Were with it did you notice the Star Trek emblem on this?

I'm sure you did, but I was like, oh, my God, that's a Star Trek emblem on her.

Dress.

On the.

Yeah, the front of the.

I guess that's called the bodice on a woman's dress.

And she's got a Starfleet emblem there because Mia Sorvino Romy is the original Star Trek fan.

She put that right there just subtly.

And it looked like there were some Nike swoops going on on the sides of that dress.

But that's how those two dug their heels in and decided to conquer the conflict, was that they just turned on their heels and became their real world selves that their high school quote unquote classmates hadn't seen, that they had evolved into.

They.

They had decided that they weren't going to care about what their other people think about them.

They're just going to be the.

Their authentic selves and show the world their.

Their fashion.

Because Michelle, played by Lisa Kudrow, actually designed some of this.

But we are at about the halfway mark in our show.

And so we're going to take a brief break for some nostalgia, some ads and jingles, some thoughts from times gone by and from 97's perspective.

I can only just imagine the kind of things that we're going to be having in our ears.

It might be fragrance.

Back then, it was always about somebody whispering in your ear, this magnificent scent.

And it usually only had one name, like impersonation, because someone would walk up to you, inevitably in a store and spray you with something and it's like, get away from me.

They like when you walk by and they spray you and then they're like ejaculation.

Right.

Don't you?

Don't I what?

You want me to meet you in the back room?

Don your galoshes and travel with me now to the glorious rushing torrent that is Niagara Falls.

Its awesome power and grandeur make it one of North America's most spectacular natural wonders.

Attract.

Attracting nearly 10 million visitors every year reminds me of the glorious spectacle that is Motel 6.

The fact we're renovating nationwide has everybody flocking to see us.

And why not?

After all, we do have guest laundry and data ports in most places.

And as for rushing torrents of water, well, we're proud to say the plumbing works just fine.

And best of all, the price won't leave you over a barrel.

It's still the best of any national chain.

Now that I'm teaching in the business, we're getting really close.

Even though my job takes me on the road a lot.

But that's no problem.

I have them call me 1-800-Collect.

It's inexpensive, so we can talk as often as we want without screwing up the bottom line.

Yeah, call him with 1-800-has really helped us get to know each other.

Yeah, we talk about business and sports and women.

By the way, how is Shelly?

That's Charlene, dad.

Charlene, 1-800-Collect.

They love to hear from you.

Crew.

This is our big big pizza with.

12 big slices and a free 2 liter bottle of Coke.

All for $7.99.

This is their size pizza, boss.

Let's make everything big.

Like what?

Balloons?

Pass.

I like it.

Show them the button.

What else we got?

Little Caesar's big big pizza, 12 big slices of cheese and pepperoni, plus a free 2 liter Coke, all for 7.99.

Bigger.

Bigger.

So we're back.

Oh, well.

And it loved when they walked back.

When they walked back in and their.

Their outfits and they're like, no, we're just gonna be ourselves.

Whatever.

And although.

And then of course the fashion lesbian from Vogue, I guess it was, who was originally one of the A group.

But anyway, she saw the outfits and while the egg.

The A group's all like, oh my God, that's our headache.

Gag me with a spoon.

Or whatever.

And then the fashion lesbians all like, oh, no, actually those are chic.

I love the lines.

I love that.

That is.

Those are bitching.

And then suddenly like, it's like.

And then all the reindeer love them because everybody, all the other people in the school are like, oh well, if the.

The head lesbian likes them, let's all.

Let's all go and like them.

Maybe I'm just remembering this conveniently.

If I am imagining myself as somebody who makes movies.

I'm thinking back to that moment where Romy and Michelle returned to their reunion in.

In their everyday clothes and impress their classmates with their fashion sense.

I want to say in the background at that moment, they're playing that 90s song.

She's got it.

Yes, she's got it.

The one thing though that I will say is that I did.

I wanted them to say something or do something to put the A group in their place.

And they came a little bit with.

There was like a little few things here and there, but they never delivered that one blow that really made them like go, oh.

Did you want a Carrie moment?

I want.

Yeah, I wanted like one of those moments where they ended up saying something cutting to them that they just could not even have a comeback like that.

Mo.

I just wanted that moment, and I didn't feel that they really got it.

And I thought, okay, so what they're going to do is at the end when that one guy is all like, oh, the guy that they were desperate for some Matt Smith knockoff, I was like, okay, he's going to go to the room and then she's going to tell the wife, like, because that's like.

One of the best moments of the movie, right?

But I was like.

And I was like, okay, she's going to tell the wife, and she.

The wife's going to go up there and be like.

And.

But that never happened.

Well, that's the great part about this.

This moment of them coming back to the reunion.

And we'll get to the.

The questions here, but it's like, they are, for being a buddy movie, they are fixated on who their crushes were back then.

And are they going to run into them?

Because each of the girls had somebody that they wondered what would have happened with.

One was, like, the football quarterback or whatever.

I think his name was Shane.

And then the other guy was this sort of nerdy guy who apparently always had a notebook in front of his crotch because he was excited about this woman.

He was hot for Michelle.

And of course that guy.

And then of course, Heather Mooney was hot for that guy, and that's why she hated Michelle.

And.

Yeah, but Michelle was the only one who didn't really have a guy that she was going there to see.

Like, that was a romantic one.

She was just.

Michelle is just, like, happy going through life, being happy and.

Yeah.

So why do Romy and Michelle believe lying about success will protect them from being judged at the reunion?

Well, for the same reason that we all would.

When we go back there, if we're.

If we're successful, then they're not going to look down on us or be petty little scooter people.

And of course, you show up to a reunion, and the three biggest people that were bullies and rude to you and mean to you for all those years are pregnant.

I mean, it's not like you can really do anything.

And of course, they're all pregnant together again.

It's like, okay, well, it's not like I can drop down, kick you behind the.

The bleachers or anything because you're pregnant anyway.

But I do love when Michelle's all like, oh, my God, you guys got fat.

So.

Right.

Lying about success will protect them.

Let's see.

But, yeah, I mean, I, I can appreciate that because from my own perspective, and I know we talked, I don't remember if it was even on the air about our own experiences, but I've only been to one of my reunions, and my experience was because I never got my driver's license when I was in school.

I lived on the opposite side of town from my school, and there were really no job opportunities where I wouldn't be working just to put gas in the tank.

I never bothered.

I wasn't one of the cool kids who had a car and they.

I didn't drive to school, that sort of thing.

But when it came time for my reunion, I lived halfway across the country.

I came home for the weekend.

I had a rental car.

I showed up at the reunion, and then on my way out, not meaning to, I almost ran over somebody who I didn't care for.

And he was trying, and he was trying to put the moves on one of the popular girls who actually was not just popular because she was pretty or talented or just somebody who networked.

She was actually someone with smarts who did well for herself.

But in hindsight, it was a little applause moment for me because I look back on that and I'm like, he was trying to put the moves on her.

And I kind of saved the day because I almost ran him over in this little parking lot.

So let's see.

I'll just go to the next question.

Well, go ahead.

I, I actually, I didn't go to high school.

I, I've never been to a reunion.

I've not been invited to my.

Any reunions.

If, if I went, I know where I would have gone, and I know enough people there that they would know who I was.

But I, I've never had that.

I never went to.

I never had prom experiences.

I never.

That type of stuff.

So mine was sort of fragmented because when you come, they pick and choose their battles in the sense that you don't have a junior prom and a senior prom, at least not in my little One Horse Town.

You had a.

You had a junior prom and then the senior class, you had a class trip.

And we more often than not would go on a bus trip to D.C. for example, and see, like, the Smithsonian and all.

And that's one of my biggest regrets, is that I had no comprehension of government or politics.

I could have been in D.C. visiting the White House on a tour when President Clinton was still in office.

Oh, I mean, it's not like I would have gotten to see the residents, but you don't know what staff member you might have run into walking in the hall.

Right.

I have a question for you.

Yeah.

What does their fight on the road.

Ding, ding.

What is their.

What does their fight on the road trip reveal about the cracks in their friendship under pressure?

Oh, that is good, because this sort of takes us back to the moment when Michelle, played by Lisa Kudrow, is in a brace.

She had.

I. I guess they explained that she had scoliosis.

She wasn't like, a victim of a car accident or anything, but she was being picked on by everyone because she was in this brace.

And Romy was always coming to her defense because they were friends.

She didn't see her as being any different.

I think that this fight brings up the cracks in the relationship because maybe Michelle hasn't been unemployed for a long period, but maybe Michelle is the one who is always going from job to job.

Maybe maybe in that sense that Romy supported her through school and all the social awkwardness of being different, maybe she feels that her role continues on that because Michelle isn't as stable.

Interesting.

Okay.

Yeah.

What does the fight on the Toro trip reveal about the cracks in their friendship under pressure?

Well, I. I think that the.

Their fight was minor and blew up like that, but I. I think it really did reveal how they look at each other.

And Romy does say, well, you're sorry, but you're not smart enough to make post its.

Right.

And of course, those of us who are watching it are like, oh, and you are, honey.

But.

And then they.

They both.

I think it.

It.

This is talking about cracks, but I think on.

On the flip side of that really shows how well they fit together because they.

They make up for each other's weaknesses.

And.

Yeah.

Anyway.

Hey, how does.

Heather.

What?

You want to say something?

Oh, I was just gonna say, but this moment introduces some iconic pop culture because when they have that little fight on the side of the road, she's like, because let's face it, I'm the Mary and you're the Rhoda.

Yeah, that whole thing that.

That's funny.

That is.

Especially back then.

That was very timely, too.

The marrying the Rota thing.

It's poignant also, just because in real life, Lisa Kudrow is a Jewish descent being compared to Rhoda, who also was a character of Jewish descent.

And speaking out of class, there was a really great episode of that genealogy show.

Who do you think you are that Lisa Kudrow is on and she found out That I think it was her great grandfather was a rabbi.

Anyway.

Oh, neat.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah, no, but yeah, it definitely that.

That is the.

Who's the Mary?

Who's the Rhoda of the relationship?

Well, you know that.

That can still apply to other shows.

I mean, other.

Other friendships and stuff like that too.

How does Heather Mooney exposing the lie push Romy and Michelle closer to being honest with themselves?

And if you don't recall, listeners, Heather, played by Janine Garofalo, said, you didn't invent post it notes.

I learned in business school.

Who did.

Yeah, she broke the illusion.

And what did that do to Romy and Michelle?

Well, I mean, it strips away all the light.

Strips away everything that.

Everything that they tried to build up.

It forces them to be themselves and themselves is.

Is a very close friendship with each other and standing up for each other.

And that's exactly what happens.

Romy is like.

Like has her legs knocked out from under her, metaphorically.

And.

And who's there to swoop in and help her?

Michelle.

She's all like, because the.

A group is gonna crush her.

Yeah.

I mean, the movie's honestly a little disjointed in.

In that way.

And I think some of that might have been in the editing.

I think there may have been more to the story.

Right, but.

But it still is a clear of their.

Their friendship and how strong it is.

A clear example of that.

I mean, because somebody like Heather Mooney has no choice but to knock their legs out from under them because she was the loner, she was the goth girl that nobody hung out with.

And as we may get into more, the closest thing that Heather Mooney had to having something in common with somebody else.

Or was the mysterious dark figure in the cowboy hat who would always throw his lit cigarette when she needed a light.

Right.

Yeah, but yeah, she was always there.

She was.

She was like of the.

The totem pole of high school popularity.

I mean, she was pretty much like on the bottom ring, except for the one person that she would always tell the f off.

Yeah.

That brings us to the co star, if you will.

Although they were both.

Yeah, I think they were pretty much both stars, honestly.

Yeah, I mean, this was a co starring.

Yeah.

Now, as I was saying, Lisa was born in a Jewish family with strong academic influences.

Her father, Dr. Lee Kudrow, was a headache specialist and a neurologist he was a master of the mind.

Lisa earned a bachelor's of arts in biology from Vassar College, which is a very, very important like Ivy League school because they, they have in history the reputation for being one of the most esteemed early women's colleges.

In fact, a throwback to don't tell mom the babysitter's dead.

The boss in that movie had a degree from Vassar.

So Rose, so I'm right on top of that.

Rose in initially planned science.

She, Lisa Kudrow initially had plans to be have a scientific career and worked with her father on headache research.

She trained in improv and sketch comedy with the Groundlings.

She might have known Paul Rubens.

And she honed her distinctive comedic voice.

Now she gained.

Lisa gained early attention on television, including a short lived role on Mad about you, speaking of Helen Hunt that we did a little bit ago.

Okay, I gotta rip off the band aid here because we are talking about pop culture and I do enjoy Lisa Kudrow.

However, we're speaking about some very specific topics here.

Now, Matt, I'm not one of the sorts of people who can watch certain shows to infinitum.

Like I get the cultural appeal to certain shows like Seinfeld, but I'm not one of those people who could watch Seinfeld and have the episodes memorized.

I know that there are certain shticks, for lack of a better term, that happen in some episodes.

But I'm not somebody who's watched it from beginning to end.

Friends is one of those shows which ironically you would think based upon the time frame that it existed on network tv, you would think that it would be on my radar because I graduated from high school in 96.

I should have been watching that show when I was in college.

But there was something that was just too predictable to me.

Maybe I was just jealous of.

Jealous of their social lives because they were heterosexuals.

There weren't any really mainstream gay characters on Friends.

And I think in reflection you could also say that it was a show that did not have much representation because I don't remember there being non white characters on there.

Yeah, no, that's, that's one of the criticisms about that was show was that there weren't any non white characters on there and then.

But there were Ross's.

Ross's ex was a lesbian, left her for being a lesbian.

And that, that was, that was A fun thing there.

But yeah, I, I was a big Friends person because I loved Matthew Perry and I had seen, seen him on numerous shows that he usually ended up not being on for more than a season.

But I still, I, I thought he was just awesome.

And of course everybody knew who Joey was because he'd been on a hundred different shows and he was always the hottest guy on there.

And Courtney Cox, I loved her for Misfits of Science.

And it's like you're pulling in and I mean I didn't know who, who the others in the cast were, but you're pulling in these people that I love into this one show and there was so much hype about it.

I mean I, there, I even had like 90 minute phone cards because you had phone cards back then, before cell phones and, and it was a friend's phone card for 90 minutes, that type of thing.

I mean it was, it was big.

I loved it.

I was all into it until I was really, really into it into Friends until about the sixth season when if I had to hear, oh, we were on a break one more time, I, I was, I was just done at that point.

Yeah, because they couldn't decide who was going to end up with who.

Pretty much.

Right.

But I'll tell you one thing, my favorite thing from that show.

Pivot.

Pivot.

Which you wouldn't know because you haven't seen it, but it was the whole thing of Ross and, and the boys trying to get this huge couch up these tiny little steps and they, it was so bad, they just could not do it.

And Ross is, they're, they're stuck.

They're trying to do everything and Ross is there the whole time going pivot, pivot.

That was the funniest freaking thing to me anyway.

My, my closest experience to watching Friends for any amount of time is seeing Joey in the 90s Lost in space movie because he was the reason I watched it.

He was very easy on the eyes, that is for sure.

But I had a bigger crush on Matthew Perry for a long, long time.

Yeah.

Lisa could films in her career, of course in the top five, that includes Romeo, Michelle and the Opposite of Sex, which is widely regarded as her finest film performance.

And Analyze this, which is a major box office hit alongside Mr. Bobby De Niro and Billy Crystal.

Among the other of her top five films were Clock Watchers and Easy A.

That brings us to our Lisa Cards.

And I will say that I have seen five of her films and my favorites include.

Because I don't think she did a bad film in her career now, the late Diane Keaton.

And it was a film called Hanging up.

And it was just a charming film.

I believe Justin Long was in it.

How about you, man?

How many Lisa cards you got?

About three.

I think most.

But my favorites have always been Romeo Michelle's High School Reunion, which I was actually able to see in the theater back in the day.

And also a gay movie with called all over the Guy.

And this.

Do you remember three guys in a pizza place.

Yes or no?

A guy, a girl in a pizza place.

Anyway.

And of course that's where our big Ryan Reynolds goodness got his start.

Right?

Well, that is.

Anyway, there was a guy, Richard Cuccarella or something like.

I, I forget.

But I had a huge crush on him and he's done it.

Only fans.

Yeah, I know, right?

But he was in this.

He was in all over the Guy, which is a gay film and Lisa Kudrow is in it and they were both just brilliant, brilliant performances.

It's another one of my favorites of hers.

Well, you should check it out.

If you haven't seen it, you should check it out.

Yeah, well, there's another movie too that's similar to that and I, I want to say that it has what's her name from Will and Grace in it.

Anyways, it.

It's one of those roommate situations.

Yeah, one of those roommate situations where the gay guy ends up living with the girl and it's assumed that they're in a relationship, but they're just good friends anyways.

All right, you did mention only fans.

That brings us to the resolution.

The climax.

Yes, you said it.

Speaking of which, if there's any difference in audio quality.

For a moment there, the lights did flicker.

I think Cooter Jack plugged in one too many of his retarded chargeable toys downstairs.

What?

I mean, yeah.

So yeah, films climax.

Romy and Michelle arrive at their 10 year high school reunion only to have their elaborate lie exposed.

Might have already told you that, but I'm putting it in print here.

As roaming wait is Romy enthusiastically begins telling their invented posted story.

Former classmate Heather Mooney, played by Janine Garofalo, inadvertently Reveals the truth, prompting ridicule from the A group in leaving Rome humiliated.

Probably right about when she was bragging about her quick burning cigarette invention.

Yeah, right.

But yeah, in that.

In that moment of disgrace.

Well, Michelle just comes right up and the friends reconcile and they choose authenticity over pretense.

So a nice way of saying they stuck up for each other and they said, oh, we're gonna change our clothes.

They got rid of the business suits.

They change into these vibrant homemade outfits that they originally designed.

And they return to the union with confidence.

And their boldness pays off when Lisa Luder, a former.

A great a.

A group.

Group member turned fashion editor and head lesbian, praises their style and undermines the meat.

Spirited clique.

Yeah, because she was wearing a blazer.

That's how you knew she was in charge.

Short hair, blazer.

I think she had pants on.

Yes, she had to have pants on.

Perfect.

She was just.

Yeah, she was perfect.

She was in charge.

Then the film resolves Go ahead.

With Sandy Frink, played by Alan Cumming, who a few years after this movie, came out as openly bisexual.

Sandy Frank, who was Janine Garofalo's characters.

Heather's crush, was now a wealthy admirer, inviting them to dance.

And six months later, because this guy shows up in a helicopter, folks, they.

They're all a flutter.

And this guy makes the.

What do they say?

The fashionable entrance.

He's fashionably late and he's got a helicopter that drops him right off there at the hotel for the reunion.

And there's this whole flurry.

Well, then there's a six months later and Romeo and Michelle have opened up a successful boutique, proving that self acceptance and friendship triumph over social expectations.

Because whenever you have an experience that causes you to question whether you've grown as a person, like going to a high school reunion, you have to have like this episodic epilogue, which we go back and we say, this is what we've learned from the experience.

They have to quote a line from the First Wives Club.

We've grown from love, right?

And they grow and they grow.

And then they take money from Sandy and they open their own fashion design shop, which is busy and popular.

That even Heather shows up and doesn't wear black, but some woman outfit that was just hideous.

Okay, but you jumped over inviting them to dance.

Okay?

Sandy Brigg and both Romeo, Michelle, the three of them get out on the dance floor and do this choreographed.

Like, I'm like, okay, is this gonna turn out to be a dream sequence too?

What is going on?

They just do this crazy three person dance with everyone standing around watching.

I mean, and I'm just like, wow.

Alan Cumming hadn't come out as bisexual yet.

But that, that choreographed dance because Michelle, when Michelle is asked by Sandy to dance, she says only if Romy can join us.

Right.

That's the, the setup for that.

But before Ellen Cumming came out as bi, this basically made Sandy come out as a freak because this basically said he was a swinger.

He's got two women who are just clinging to him and they're, they're doing their little.

What do you call it, interpretive dance number there.

Yeah.

But one thing that I loved though, and this is subtle, that at the end when they open their shop, one of the lines that Michelle says is oh, if we make this much money then, then we can pay Sandy back.

Which means Sandy lent them the money from, for the shop.

But lending them the money, not just paying for it, means that she, he and Michelle aren't together.

Which is.

Reinforces that this is a bunny movie and not a romantic or a chick flick type movie.

Right.

And I love that.

I love, I love that this was about friendship.

It wasn't about women trying to snag a man that they can feel fulfilled.

That type of thing.

Have we gotten to the second bullet point in this moment of disgrace?

We're, we're done with all that.

We're ready for the, the.

Are you happy with the outcome of the film?

Oh, okay.

Are you happy with the outcome?

I am.

And it's, it's important to note that there is a quote unquote dream sequence with this movie that may have actually had something to do with the, the outcome that we see.

You, you, you actually almost have a choose your own ending.

They, they have this dream sequence of what might have been.

And perhaps that had something to do with the fact, as you said, they had a loan from Sandy versus if Michelle was in a relationship with him, it would be her money.

Right, Exactly.

Because she's not the Mary.

They're both the Mary.

Aside from Romy and Michelle, who is your favorite character?

Oh goodness.

Well, I'm torn between Heather and for lack of a better phrase, the.

The head lesbian fashion editor.

Because I was never the popular kid.

And even though Heather was kind of mean, which I'm sorry, it was kind of fun when the gal who was signing people in at the reunion desk actually told her that Heather was, had been mean and hurt her feelings.

But that was also explaining to Heather that she did have power in high school.

She wasn't just a doormat.

She was somebody who made fun of people feel bad.

Right.

Yeah, I was.

I was happy with the outcome of the film, especially since it wasn't your typical story of.

They went back to their reunion and then they made.

They reconnected with some old flame they.

They picked up with their lives.

The choices that they have made, their life experiences have brought them to where they were.

And despite the fact that they had revisited their pasts, that basically gave us closure with.

They're the same people that they would have been if they, you know, hadn't gone back.

Right.

And for me, my favorite character would.

Would have been Heather, of course.

I mean, she was the other main character for the most part, but her character was the one that I would probably have been friends with if I had gone to that school.

I.

She and I would have been friends and.

Yeah.

Anyway, of course, other cast members of note we've mentioned several times, of course, Janine Garofalo, which was Heather Mooney, and she was the sharp tongue outsider who delivers the film's most biting lines and meaning that they had to make it probably a PG13 or something.

Right.

And then of course, Alan Cumming, who played Sandy Frank and was the awkward billionaire inventor with a lingering crush.

And we don't see him as that until the very end.

And yeah, they.

They did, they did wonderfully with this one.

And guess what?

I found us a Star Trek connection.

Oh, you mean besides the delta shield on Romy's dress?

Yes, which I absolutely loved, but I had to comb through.

Nobody in the cast.

No, this and that.

I had to comb through things to find this one.

You want to take that one?

Yeah.

The gentleman who contributed to the soundtrack of Romeo, Michelle, which I think is probably a staple of pop culture because it's got a mix of so many songs from that time period in there.

Mr. Cliff Edelman, he's a composer and he wrote some of the music for different Star Treks and including the last adventure of the original series cast.

Star Trek 6, the Undiscovered Country.

That is our Star Trek connection.

I need my pain it makes me who I am.

Alrighty, girl.

Calm down.

I talked a little bit about my favorite moments in the movie.

Besides the moment when Michelle called all of the popular girls fat, My other favorite moment was when Romy had a chance to hook up with the quarterback who was very clearly cheating on his wife, who was there too, but was also drunk at the time and had just thrown up in the bushes.

She.

What did she do, Matt?

She sent him on an errand.

Right?

Yeah.

And what did she tell him to do?

Oh, yeah, you.

And yeah, to.

At the very end there.

Right, right.

He tells.

That makes sense, right?

Earlier, earlier, like, when they were still in high school, she had asked him to dance, and he said, sure, wait right here.

And then he and his popular AK girl left, and she stood there for, like, hours waiting for.

For him.

In this case, he was all after he barfs.

And he still got like, barf on his chin and stuff.

I was so grossed out.

But anyway, he's all like, hey, you're really hot, Romy.

Let's go up to a hotel room.

And she's like, okay, well, you go get the hotel room and then you take off all your clothes and you wait there on the bed, and I'll be up there in just a few minutes.

And of course, one of the things that bugs me about stuff like this, they don't say the hotel room number.

They know they is like, oh, yeah, just go get a hotel room, like, and I'll just magically show up.

And.

But I was.

I was waiting for her to, like, tell the.

A gay group girl, his wife, like, oh, yeah, he's waiting for you in the hotel room.

Yeah.

I wanted her to gather a group of her friends, like, the girls that weren't good enough to be in the popular Click.

And I wanted them to show up and take pictures of this guy all naked in the hotel room.

Oh, yeah, that would have been fun too.

See, and that's the thing is there was never this.

That.

That gotcha back payoff moment that I.

You expect from these movies.

Let's see here.

Now, that brings us to the end of the three acts.

But now we're going to talk a little bit about overall thoughts on this.

Which character would you most want to hang out with and why?

Well, of course, like I said, I would probably be hanging out with Heather because that's just who I ended up gravitating to when I was in school.

But I would.

I would have wanted to hang out with Romeo and Michelle because they are totally like, my type of.

Like, I would.

I would love to hang out with Romeo, Michelle, and probably the.

The chick that signed them in.

Like, she's another one.

That would have been like, in my friend group.

Yeah, I mean, this isn't gonna be somebody that I would.

I would think is cool and want to hang out with.

This is just gonna be like the dirty S word in me.

But something make.

Something makes me want to know more about that mysterious Figure in the cowboy hat who was always around to light Heather's cigarette.

Oh, yeah.

But he ended up being too skinny.

But I love that they got together at the end.

I thought that was funny.

That was cool.

But I think just to be different, I want to know more about the girl who's fragile.

The fact that Heather was mean to her just sort of shook her world.

It's like, well, what was this?

Like, the gym teacher's daughter?

And did she wear, like, a head brace or something?

And she didn't have any friends or something?

I don't even know if she had a name.

I think it might have been Patty.

Yeah, she had a name.

I don't remember what it was, though.

But yeah, she, she was one of those characters that, like, is just a peripheral character and yet really has a, has a good, pivotal reason for being there.

I, I really liked her.

And you just know that she's in therapy.

Oh, yeah.

She's probably still like.

And she never signed my yearbook.

That's right.

And she told.

That's when she told her that Heather was mean.

Right.

She figured out, oh, you didn't sign my yearbook.

Oh, don't be mean.

Yeah.

And don't tell me to F off, because that always may hurt my feelings.

That made Heather happy.

Was there a character you wish had more screen time?

Well, I think I answered that, but I'll give you a chance.

Yeah, no, I, I think probably that character.

I would, I'd be interested to know just a little bit more about her or, or maybe even the, the fashionista head lesbian.

I think she's another character that I would have found.

I would have liked to have seen her have a little bit more screen time interactive with the girls.

I think I could imagine one possible story that they could have had.

And this is one of those questions that we, in theory, could be asking ourselves, is this was done more recently again, I could see a newer Romeo Michelle, like, movie having some drama between the fashion editor and that girl who was head of the clique.

Because maybe they experimented.

And even though.

Maybe even though the one girl is married's got kids, it's like they were bumping uglies back in the day for a brief moment.

Yeah, I, I, I, I think.

I think I would have liked to have seen more of a.

More of a riff than just that one moment between the, the click.

Because the head.

Head lesbian there, she, she could have really.

Even if Romy Michelle didn't deliver that.

That gotcha moment, she could have, and she kind of did.

But it was still light.

It wasn't like a.

A full on snap.

Yeah.

And then you get to read the last question there.

Okay.

Did you see yourself in any of these characters?

Oh, geez.

Well, I was a bit band and choir or chorus nerd.

I wasn't an athlete or a jock, as some might say.

And I wasn't one of the popular kids.

I think maybe that's probably the hidden reason why I want to spend more time with the girl who was hurt that Heather didn't say in her yearbook.

Yeah, you.

Did you see yourself in any of the characters?

The thing is, is I could see myself in a lot of the characters.

I mean, not that.

Not the A group, not the.

Not the quarterback, not those, the.

Those guys.

But I mean, Romay Michelle, the girl with the yearbook, the Heather.

I mean, all of them.

I could see myself in all of them.

That's another reason why I like.

I liked much of this.

This book or I mean, movie.

Yeah.

Because there's aspects of all the characters that we can relate to.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, some little breadcrumbs.

Miscellaneous facts about Romy Michelle.

This was adapted from Robin Shift stage play.

And the arrowhead, as we said, the arrowhead symbol on Romy's blue dress bears a striking resemblance to the logo for Star Trek because Mira Seviero, Mia Sorvino specifically chose that since she's a huge fan of the original series, which I.

Absolutely love that she did that.

Well, did you that.

In one of the high school flashback scenes, popular mean girl Christy actually played a trick on Michelle by putting magnets on her back brace.

Which in retrospect, to like today didn't seem that mean.

Right.

Was like, kind of cheesy.

But anyway, Julie Julia Campbell, the actress that played Christy, she actually developed scoliosis at age 11 and actually wore a back brace in real life.

Oh, yeah.

Life imitating art imitating life, huh?

Yeah.

And let's not forget that the red blouse that Lisa Kutro wears when she is in the Bargain Mart kind of thing.

That scene was so.

Oh, my gosh.

I've been in places like that.

It was creepy anyway, but.

So she's interested.

The Bargain Mart.

And at the same.