Brown, Short= Romy
Tall, Blonde, Dumber= Michele
but not in this movie..seriously bad job in the casting department..would have been better te other way around..It has totally ruined the movie..well thats not true..the movie ruined the movie..But the characters messed it up more..I love the first movie, own it, have seen it probably 10 or more times and this movie is just sad and I am having a hard time watching it
~Beth~
Seriously, though... how does a mistake like that happen??? The same writer from Romy and Michele's High School Reunion supposedly wrote and directed this prequel (unless I misread the IMDB info). I don't understand that at all...
shareIt's been established that Katherine Heigl does a great impression of Lisa Kudrow's character Michelle Weinburger from the first R&M movie; the problem is she was SUPPOSED to be playing Mira Sorvino's character Romy White. That's only the beginning of the problems with this pre-quel trainwreck:
> Although R&M's High School Reunion and R&M: In The Beginning were both written by Robin Schiff; the second movie's characters were less likeable and more lunk-headed with banal dialogue. They played almost like Valley Girls than twentysomething Tucson transplants.
> Sorvino and Kudrow won't make anybody forget Streep and Hepburn any time in the near future, but both have better acting chops than Heigl and Breckenridge. The fact they're actually very intelligent people playing vacuous losers made the first movie more enjoyable and ironic.
> The gist of R&M's friendship is that's the major item both have going for them; their lives in the first movie were actually quite pathetic and ordinary. Although the second movie exponded upon that; things like sleeping with hunks, living in a transexuals' apartment for free, launching a cleaning woman's singing career, cavorting with supermodels, meeting Paula Abdul, finding magic shoes, butting heads with a powerbroker and taking LA by storm wasn't their style.
> I watched the second movie and kept waiting for a payoff that never came. If their first two weeks in LA were that exciting and significant; how come they're sharing a one bedroom apartment, single and unemployed with nothing better to do with their lives than try to impress high school classmates by lying seven years later?
I was really impressed with Ms. Heigl's character. Until Ms. Breckenridge called her Romy. Then I went from being impressed with the character to being disappointed that apparently neither actress nor the director had seen the original.
Hard to imagine, since it's the same director. Why not just cast Heigl as Michelle?
I totally agree. I thought Katherine Heigel did a great job....but she was soooo Michelle, NOT Romy. Not only does she look like her, she sounds like her, too.
It took me about an hour into the movie to realize that she was supposed to be Romy. Bad choice in casting.
And I thought I just remebered the first one incorrectly!!
How could something like this happen????????
Seriously! I was so confused while watching it!! I kept thinking the shorter brunette was Romy. Horrible HOrrible Horrible!!!!!
sharecan someone TELL ME how the hell you DO NOT WATCH THE ORIGNAL MOVIE THAT THIS IS BASED ON??
wtf .. I saw the "prequel" last night, and although I must admit the girl with the blond hair (forgot her name) was good at being michelle, (she sounded like her, kinda looked like her) ..
the rest of the movie blew. I didn't even realize the characters were mixed up until I saw on here.
Pretty dumb mistake.
Even the official ABC Family Site for this describes Michele as the more sensible one. She was the ditzy one in the original movie! Would you write a Lucy & Ethel movie and get the characters mixed up?!
Shame on you ABC for doing such a huge diservice to the fans of R&MHS! I can't believe that the writer was the same. I've seen R&MHS about 5 times and I could have written a better script!
I just finished watching the movie (TiVo) and I was wondering the same thing. I really don't understand it, how can you mix the characters up like that? I really wonder if the writer did more than a quick writeup and disappeared after accepting his check.
share"I really wonder if the writer did more than a quick writeup and disappeared after accepting his check."
He directed the movie too...
In regards to the mixed up characters, I forgot who had been who in the original movie. I just assumed that Heigl was playing the Kudrow part.
Also, Kelly Brook as a size 0 with exotic coloring? ? I'm not seeing it.
"He directed the movie too..."
Well then, I have no idea what went on. Just crazy.
In the very first scene I thought that Katherine was Michelle. So I agree with all of you about this. Overall, I thought Katherine Heigl acting was horrible in the movie. Maybe it was mostly because she was playing the wrong character, but I just didn't like her performance regardless.
sharethis movie was totally f*&#D up!!!! Obviously they couldn't have gotten any of the original cast, even the "A" group? or a better writer......It seems like they took all the references from the first one and jammed it all in this prequal and made it cheesy and stupid.....They were not even in correct outfits for the time period, it was supposed to be taking place. What a waste of a movie. Katherine Heigl was good except she should have switched rolls....kept confusing me.....
shareLoved the original movie. Hated this prequel. I gotta admit I didn't watch the whole thing, but after 40 minutes I wanted to puke. Shame on ABC "Family" channel.
shareI kind of liked it, even though they mixed up the characters. But weren't both girls blond in the original? Except Mira Sorvino was blond cuz she dyed her hair.
shareI'm a fan of the original and I always will be! I only just found out tonight that there was even a "sequal"...well, only if you can call this a sequal, from what I've heard about the mix ups, it sounds like a pretty *beep* job of it.
I DON'T want to watch this EVER because it's going to ruin everything I love about Romy and Michele's High School Reunion! Before I heard about this movie I seriously doubted the chance of there being a sequal for it because it'd never work...I mean, going back to the beginning of it all its really pathetic!
We've seen the most exciting parts of it all: the prom, the high school days, etc. and then they decide to put all this crap into the sequal! OK maybe if you went forward after the movie, it MIGHT work! Also to the people that say that Lisa and Mira should of come back and done this movie, I totally disagree! They're kinda too old! They'd never say yes to the script! Basically this is B...no, C Grade movie material!
i could be wrong but i am pretty sure in flashback in the first one that michelle had dark hair at high school. That said, Heigl was the perfect Michele, i was totally shocked to realise she was playing Romy.
Regardless, go sue me, i found it entertaining and lightheartedly funny.!
LOL!
I totally agree! I was watching this movie today and it took my 1/2 hour to realize that Katherine Heigl wasn't playing Lisa Kudrow's role. She fits much better as Michelle. And Romy had darker hair in high school, so why cast the dark haired girl as Michelle? I have to admit that I didn't watch it all. The acting seemed too forced, but I believe that is because the actresses were casted in the wrong roles.
I actually really enjoyed it. Sure, there are silly bits, like the crazy next door neighbour, but I think it's a cute movie in its own right.
The two girls are quite different to the Romy and Michelle of the first film though, and I agree it would have made more sense to cast the brunette as Romy.
Also, I think that the whole premise of the first film is that they're ordinary and haven't done anything with their life, and that's ok, whereas in this one, it's more about all these great things that happen to them unexpectedly.
I expected some closure with the Michelle and the boy next door storyline too. But then I guess both films are about the two girls, not the boy-girl relationship, and I love that about them.
i watched it for the first time the other night and it came on straight after Romy and Michele's high school reunion and i was like what is this...at the beginning it seemed as if tho katherine heigel was michele and the other chick was romy, and i agree i think they botched the casting for this movie, i actually thought the movie was alright cept the whole mix up of characters that was the only disappointing thing about this movie
shareyeah same here!! i watched both of them on seven sunday night and was sooooo excited to see the Squeal because i loved the oringinal!!!
only too be Disappointed horribly. i also got mixed up in the begining thinking that katherine heigel was michelle because she even lookes like her.
what was going on with the casting!!!
some of the acting was good though but i thought that they were trying too hard!!!!
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I half liked this movie but i thought it was stupid that Breckenridges charachter slept with the dude so quick they didn't seem that stupid in the other movie
shareI just finally watched this on abc family after having been a fan of Romy and Michelle forever. I thought the same thing. When Michelle was the one that was being sensible and not naive about why that woman wanted Romy to sign the papers, I was like wait..that is totally un Michelle like.
shareI haven't seen the prequel but didn't Michele prove herself the more sensible one beneath the surface. I mean, Romy was the leader but in the end, Michele seemed more like she was the follower only because she cared about Romy so much. Romy had the half cocked ideas, and Michele finally pointed this out to her.
You can't go on blaming yourself forever. Just blame yourself once, then move on.
I just came here to post the same thing. I just learned about this movie and when I went on to this page a read Catherine Heigl, I assumed that she was Michele, because she looks like Lisa Kudrow....
shareEXACTLY! I thought this when I first watched in '05 and now with this showing on CMT.
Katherine looks and acts like Michelle, but takes on Romy's voice and name?
They're just insulting the intelligence of fans of the original. Total injustice to them
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