"Friends: The Reunion" premieres at HBO Max (HBO Go in the Philippines) after a series of delays, and it was awesome, surreal, beautiful, sad, and disappointing.
"Friends: The Reunion" is not another episode of Friends. It is no sitcom. Instead, it is more like a documentary-slash-roundtable-slash-interview with the casts.
The film opens with the six actors revisiting the show's set. The production team built a studio replica for the reunion, complete with Joey and Chandler's chair, Monica's cookie jar, and the awkward beam back in season one. Seeing all the actors in one room is bizarre and touching.
As the six friends start to reminiscence their time with the show, director Ben Winston throws in a surprise. The screen fades out, and The Rembrandts's "I'll Be There for You" starts to play. And it was the best bit of the entire film!
There is no reunion without the love and support of fans, and Winston made sure that there will be a lot of fan service in it. So he made an updated version of the sitcom's theme song, combining old and new footages of the six actors. The song is, obviously, iconic. But what makes it work is genuineness.
The script reading bit and the callback of the game from "The One with the Embryos" episode are spectacular. What's more, it is pleasant to see the creators and other cast members like Tom Selleck, Maggie Wheeler, James Michael Tyler, Elliott Gould, and Christina Pickles made an appearance. The crowds cheered their cameos, even if it's only for a few minutes.
But despite the many surprising fan service, there are plenty of things not working in the documentary.
For one, "Friends: The Reunion" feels more like a late-night show rather than a documentary. Additionally, James Corden is not the guy to moderate a touching reunion. He is a terrific host, but his approach to interviews does not fit well in the mood and purpose of the film.
As said, "Friends: The Reunion" is all about the six actors and their good or bad experiences in the show. The goal of the documentary is to reveal the secrets behind the scenes. And to uncover their thoughts before, during, and after the series. But the film settles in doing fashion shows and asking silly questions. I can't help but feel that the production team completely misses the point of doing a reunion in the first place.
Also, the surprise guests are headscratchers. Why would Justin Bieber be in the documentary, anyway? It will be nicer if fans get to see characters that made an actual appearance in the show to share their thoughts, rather than having big stars. It feels like they are there for the clout and the marketing. Stars like Paul Rudd, Helen Baxendale, Jane Sibbett, Sean Penn, and Cole Sprouse deserve a slot in that guest list. But no one even mentioned them.
Creator David Crane describes "Friends" as "the one time in your life when your friends are your family," yet the film looks like they are strangers paid to like each other. The time the six friends spent really talking to each other feels so limited and constrained that it is difficult to see the bond they have.
Between Corden's talk show and the interview with the creators, the casts barely have a moment with each other. There is always a filler scene that steers the topic away to their actual insight of the show. There is no consistency and focus, which is disappointing.
The love for "Friends" is overwhelmingly tremendous. There are billions of people who watched all ten seasons and 236 episodes of the show. People know by heart all of their misadventures, fights, affairs, friendships, and passions. It is one of the most successful and influential American television sitcom ever.
The expectation is sky-high. However, Ben Winston's vision for the "Friends" reunion is not. He's so determined to bring the nostalgia that the genuineness disappears in favor of fan service.
But what's truly disappointing is we barely learned anything new about "Friends". Yes, Schwimmer and Aniston's off-screen romance revelation is mind-blowing. But, what else? None.
3/5
