Since You've Been Gone

The Gen-X high school reunion comedy now appears to be a bona fide sub-genre, with entries ranging from the silly (Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion) to the subversive (Grosse Pointe Blank). Since You've Been Gone adds "scattered" to that list, aiming for an American Graffiti vibe in its episodic account of a Chicago 10-year reunion but coming up with uneven comedy and muddled drama. The narrative follows eight main characters, each of whom can be summarized neatly by two "but"-connected adjectives--the successful but disillusioned songwriter (Joey Slotnick), the fashionable but insecure world traveler (Teri Hatcher), the beautiful but disturbed mischief-maker (Lara Flynn Boyle), etc. The comedy is fairly successful early on, laying on the exaggerated high school types and cheesy atmosphere thick enough to be foolish fun. Then the film starts getting pseudo-serious, delving into our protagonists' fears of failure just to the point of shallow, token sentiment. In fact, Since You've Been Gone feels a lot like a real high school reunion: the early amusement of meeting people and seeing what they've become gives way to tedious small talk, until you're just watching the clock and waiting for it to end. Directed by Friends star David Schwimmer (who also plays the tries-too-hard class president), the film features cameos by Molly Ringwald, Jon Stewart, Marisa Tomei and Jerry Springer. Optional. (S. Renshaw)