I walked into the Zac Efron high school comedy/squealfest 17 Again thinking that, as a 37-year-old man, I was pretty much as far from the target audience as you could be, an assumption cemented by the shrieks of "Zac!" from the teenage girls around me that started up even before the trailers. But just five seconds into the movie, there’s a shirtless Efron (cue squeals) as 17-year-old high school senior Mike O’Donnell, standing on a basketball court in what we’re told is 1989 and… Hey! I was a 17-year-old senior in 1989! Then we flash-forward to the present, and there’s Matthew Perry as a 37-year-old O’Donnell, married with two kids, looking tired and beaten down by his responsibilities. Hey! I’m a 37-year-old father of two who sometimes feels tired and beaten down by my responsibilities! Am I exactly the target audience of this movie? Is 17 Again my story?
Well, no. Once Perry is supernaturally zapped back into his old body, 17 Again quickly devolves into an undercooked bouillabaisse of every teenage time-travel/body-swap cliché ever thrown onto a movie screen. It’s 13 Going on 30 going on Big going on Freaky Friday going on Back to the Future going on Peggy Sue Got Married. Efron’s easy charm keeps it afloat, but there’s not much to love, with the exception of Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!), as O’Donnell’s billionaire-nerd best friend, and Melora Hardin (The Office), as the school principal, who seem to have been supernaturally zapped in from a different, funnier movie. In the end, though, 17 Again is so fluffy and harmless, if you’re too hard on it, you risk coming across like the cranky old dude in a high school movie. Which, as we’ve established, I apparently am.
So what did you think? Did 17 Again speak to you? If you liked it, what did it for you? If you didn’t, did it feel like a rehash of a bunch of movies you’ve seen before? Read Lisa Schwarzbaum’s take here—and then share your own thoughts below.
Lisa Schwarzbaum is that cranky old dude in a high school movie.
Matt U R My Hero!
I loved 17 Again. It was just fun and Zac was so good in it… the courtroom scene was amazing.
lol great article. I does look bad, but I’m sure it isn’t as bad as some of us might think it is. (If that makes sense)
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/04/18/ratings-report-prison-break-returns-but-escapes-the-viewers/
Zac Efron doesn’t really have to do any acting at all. Just continue writing High School type movies that are rated G, PG, & PG 13, then tweens/teens girls that only go for hot looking teen hearthrob with good looks and body will pay any price to see him. This movie is kinda gross like high schoool boy’s mom going after one of his high school friend or you could look at it high school girls with middle age man. Either way looks very gross.
I just saw the movie- I have several big issues with it- 1- If you are expecting a child when you are 17- and the movie is set in 20 years, shouldn’t that child be 19? Why is the child a senior in high school? 2- too many close encounters with Mike almost hooking up with his daughter. 3- The wife and the best friend recognize him but the coach doesn’t remember his star player? Please. 4- This movie was set in 1989 and makes reference to Ice, Ice, Baby. But the song didn’t come out until 1990. If I can get that answer in two minutes of searching on the internet, don’t you think the writers should have too?
I went to see it with my friends, and, of course, as a group of fourteen year old girls, we were there partially just to see Zac. I honestly wasn’t expecting much with this movie – a few lame jokes and a couple of cute scenes with Zac. But I ended up enjoying this movie more than I thought I would. The entire audience was laughing (including the two middle-aged fathers sitting right next to me which i thought was really creepy). Two of my favorite scenes off the top of my head: Zac coming out of an Audi R8 looking gorgeous (cue tween squeals, or at least mine), and the courtroom scene because Zac showed real tears and it was adorable
There were also tons of hilarious scenes that my friends will be sure to quote in school. Overall, an enjoyable movie, and Zac is uber-charming as ever and surprisingly entertaining.
being 31, i’m almost ashamed to admit that i kinda want to see this movie. mostly because everytime i see zac efron in the trailers, he reminds me of matt perry as chandler – the way he says things (at least in the trailer) is SO chandler. so if i just think of him as a young chandler, i find him amusing.
course, i don’t know if i can bring myself to see this in theaters, surrounded by a bunch of squealing teeange girls. that might be too much to handle…
My 12 yr-old daughter has wanted to see this movie for months, so we saw it last night. I was surprised at how much I actually liked it. It was funnier than expected. I’d give it a B.
I really liked the movie. I saw it with 2 other cougers and we laughed along with the audience. Zac has a future ahead of him.
i honestly wasn’t expecting much when i went to see this today,but was very pleased by just how funny it was.sure it was a rehash of an old idea(aren’t they all now) but i seriously laughed through the whole movie.it might also help that a share some of Ned’s inner nerdiness,his subplot ought to entertain many of the tweeners parents hoping merely to endure this film.Lisa had better deliver crap reviews for the rom-com’s that ran in front of this,cause i bet neither The Proposal or that McConaughey movie have any hidden charm (or laughs) outside their trailers.
By the way the Mathew MCcONAUGHEY film is called Ghost of girlfriends past.
If you were trying to disparage this film by comparing it to that litany of time travel movies it didn’t work. Those are some pretty great flicks!
My wife and I found the movie to be hilarious and touching. We were high school sweethearts ourselves, and are parents of college-aged kids, so we’re not exactly the “teen demo” the reviewer refers to, but we thought the performances were great. Don’t know why this jaded reviewer can’t say something nice about a movie that was clearly made for pure enjoyment and fun. (Not every film needs to be Oscar worthy, so don’t take yourself too seriously, Lisa.) The entire audience was laughing out loud and smiling as the credits rolled. This movie has a heart.
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In writing there are no new ideas just a different way of looking at it. I learned this from a college trained writing teacher. I really loved the movie. I am a huge Matthew Perry fan, and Zach Efron is a hottit. Yes there were some odd inconsistancies like where did those two years go? Hmm. Also, I think there should have beeen some more interaction and depth between Mann, and her kids. And the charecters and their past could have been explored a little bit more. It was very good especially the last scene. Which had a very clever message. Efron’s charecter, given the same circumstances, did choose to do it the same way. That in itself makes a statement that is very unique with this film.