
DATE: Thursday, May 1, 1997                 TAG: 9705010042

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E4   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Movie Review 

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

DEFT ACTRESSES MAKE REUNION MOVIE FUN

SPARKED BY mischievously clever writing and three ingratiating performances, ``Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'' is a surprise hit. It's quite the best coming-of-age comedy since ``Clueless,'' even if the age is upped a bit here.

Romy and Michele are, to put it mildly, two quite unforgettable characters. Living on the beach at Venice, Calif., they imagine themselves irresistible disco babes until they are forced to face some form of reality with the upcoming 10-year high school reunion back in Tucson, Ariz..

It must be a little like when Adam suddenly realized he didn't have a fig leaf. The girls realize they don't have much to brag about. Up until now, they've been quite happy but, abruptly, the same insecurities they possessed in high school return. They were the weirdo girls who hung together. At the prom, they wore Madonna-imitation outfits but poor Romy couldn't even get football star Billy to dance with her. Now, they plan to make a return appearance. For the occasion, they make up an elaborate story of business success, supported by ``fashionable'' outfits sewn hastily by Michele.

If there is any social occasion more replete with comic possibilities than a wedding, it must be the high school reunion. Many of them are realized here. Billy, once the teen dreamboat, is now a pot-tummied failure married to the head cheerleader, but cheating on her. The former school nerd, Sandy Frink (Alan Cumming), is now a multi-millionaire. The A-Crowd, the cheerleaders led by irritatingly toothy Christie (Julia Campbell), are just as snooty as ever.

But there are several unexpected twists to Robin Schiff's script that make it a sheer delight, including a fantasy version of the reunion.

Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow are charms in the two lead roles, and they aren't easy roles to play. Initially, the range is from blank (Sorvino's Romy) to vague (Kudrow's Michele) but slowly the poignancy and the outright heroism of these two poor souls surfaces. We are persuaded to root for them all the way.

Sorvino, who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress last year in Woody Allen's ``Mighty Aphrodite.'' She's no dummy. She looks very much like a movie star here - a screen presence that is likely to be with us for a long time. Kudrow, a graduate of Vassar College, is best known as Phoebe in TV's ``Friends,'' as well as Ursula, the ditzy waitress in ``Mad About You.'' In the early scenes, Sorvino seems to be running circles around Kudrow in pacing and timing. Eventually, though, Michele becomes a character all her own.

To their credit, the two actresses play it straight every nuance of the way. They never once give us a hint that they know better.

Tremendous support is contributed by Janeane Garofalo as Heather Mooney, the obnoxious troublemaker from high-school-past. After the success of ``The Truth About Cats and Dogs,'' it's surprising that Garofalo would take a part this small - but we're glad she did.

I may go see this one again. It's a mere diversion, but great fun. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARK FELLMAN/Touchtone Pictures

Romy (Mira Sorvino, left) and Michele (Lisa Kudrow, second from

left) talk to their former classmates in ``Romy and Michele's High

School Reunion.''

Graphic

MOVIE REVIEW

``Romy and Michele's High School Reunion''

Cast: Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow Director: David Mirkin

Mal's rating: three stars 1/2