Friends Reunion review: The one where they look back (and make a lot of money)

It was self-congratulatory and skirted any controversy but it was heartwarming to see how much the show meant to so many
Friends: The Reunion
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Oh. My. God, as Janice would say, the old gang are back together. Some things haven’t changed since the finale of Friends aired 17 years ago. Rachel still has the best hair, Ross still has the best comic timing and however downhearted about the state of the world I feel, watching these six people together on the sofa still has the ability to cheer me up.

Of course there is plenty to be cynical about in Friends: The Reunion. Reunions are fraught by their nature – people are going back to a stage in their life that usually ended for a reason. Revisiting seems indulgent, especially here with James Corden playing a slightly too pleased with himself host - and life has moved on. But Friends couldn’t resist a reunion - why shouldn’t they when their contemporaries from Sex and the City and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air are getting the crew together again? But unfortunately this is not another episode but a long love-in. Instead of a knowing fictional episode with nods to much-loved storylines (which could have been great), the set up is a mix of interviews with the cast and the show’s creators, clips and an impressive range of celebrity fans talking about what the show means to them.

The most morbidly fascinating part is how the cast look, or rather that they are evidence of how no matter how much money you pay, you cannot escape the ageing process. They are still joking about Joey’s weight, which seems a bit harsh now he’s a middle-aged man, even if the others are mostly still lithe with unnaturally taut faces. Matt LeBlanc keeps making jokes about how the set looks smaller and Jennifer Aniston counters them by saying that they haven’t grown. “Speak for yourself,” laughs LeBlanc. It is gentle teasing; they are all heartwarmingly delighted to see each other, possibly helped by the fact that they’re rumoured to be receiving up to $2.5 million each for this show (the one where they rake it in?). We see them go back to that set and it feels a bit like people returning to the scene of a crime or a ruin.

Their conversations around the table about what went on behind the scenes feel like the most natural and interesting part of this show. They still have a great chemistry and it is a pleasure to be party to them reliving this time. It is just a shame that Corden has to be there too, not asking any of the pertinent questions. A braver interviewer than him might have broached the fact that there were so few non-white characters that this has become a recurring joke in subsequent sitcoms, or addressed the many homophobic and transphobic jokes.

But that is not the tone of this show. It is a celebration and chimes with the nostalgic concept of Friends. The show’s co-creator David Crane describes it as “about that time in your life when your friends were your family”, in other words, when you are young, finding your way in the world and sharing flats. I was 14 when the show ended and had watched it every Friday night, hoping that one day I would be like them. I have yet to live in such a large apartment but I still use it as a reference point.

I am not the only one. We hear sweet vignettes from celebrities about how Friends has influenced their lives. You would have to be very misanthropic not to like this - the show is a shared cultural touchpoint across the globe. Korean boyband BTS used it to learn American English, David Beckham thinks he is most like Monica and watches it when he misses his friends and family, and Malala comes on with her friend Vee who teases her for being like Joey. Malala and Vee are a charming double act. They speak about the elements of Friends that were progressive - Monica proposes to Chandler, Lady Gaga says that Phoebe showed being “a little different” was okay and Rachel embarks on raising a baby alone.

There are some awkward moments. Life has clearly not been kind to Matthew Perry (Chandler). When he says with a laugh that he hasn’t heard from any of his fellow cast members, while they are all in touch, it isn’t entirely clear whether he is joking or not and there is a moving section where he speaks about how much it affected him when the studio audience didn’t laugh at his jokes. His colleagues had no idea he was so down about it. This section could have been developed but this is not a deep documentary. In fact, it feels more like something just for a fans forum, to be shown when they gather at the popular Friends Fests.

Courtney Cox, or CC as the cast call her, is the quietest but she becomes emotional in the end saying that this is it, there will be no more reunions in 17 years time - cue lots of crying and hugging. The clips made me want to rewatch it - particularly the one where Ross and Monica do their dance routine - and they made me realise that despite its shortcomings, Friends was a special show and it deserves to be celebrated. Just maybe not over a running time of 105 minutes.

Friends: the Reunion is on HBO Max in the US, and Sky One and streaming service NOW in the UK

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