Older Reviews- 17 Again

            17 Again is a somewhat heartwarming but easily forgettable family comedy. That said, there are worse movies out there.

            The plot is all too familiar. Mike O’Donnell, a bitter 37-year-old man (Matthew Perry) makes a wish to be young again, and a magical janitor is all too happy to grant this wish. Yawn. The man turns 17 again (hence the title) and is reincarnated as teen heartthrob Zac Efron. Double yawn. The moral of the story: appreciate what you have, be careful what you wish for, and family is the most important and worthwhile thing you could ever have in life. Fine, but this movie has been made so many times that High School Musical 4 would have been better.

            There are some laughs in this movie. Thomas Lennon shines as Zac Efron/Matthew Perry’s best friend, and all fantasy/sci fi/computer geeks will appreciate the references that come from his character. I laughed out loud when called himself pathetic for having a replica of Gandalf the Grey’s quarterstaff from Two Towers, only to have his uptight and conservative date (Melora Hardin) reply, “You’re right, it is pathetic. Especially since Gandalf the Grey was only in The Fellowship of the Ring. In Two Towers, he is reincarnated as Gandalf the White.” The rest of their conversation continues in Elvish, and I found myself wondering if it was Quenya or Sindarin, as the film never specifies and I never finished learning the language in high school. That said, these jokes might not be as funny to less geeky audiences.

            Otherwise, the movie is pretty standard. Michelle Trachtenberg’s character is wholly unlikable, as is that of her standard teenage bully of a boyfriend (played by Hunter Parrish, whose apparent popularity is as inexplicable as the casting director’s decision to cast Matthew Perry as an older Zac Efron). Leslie Mann is gorgeous as Perry/Efron’s wife, but her scenes with Zac Efron tend to be a little creepy in a Stacey’s Mom/MILF obsessed world (as are Efron’s scenes with Trachtenberg). Sterling Knight is sweet and adorable as Alex, and he and Efron probably have the best chemistry of anyone in the film (short of Lennon and Hardin, of course). And Zac Efron is passable, occasionally believable as a 37-year-old in a 17-year-old’s body, but not really stretching himself in any other way (in how many movies is he planning to be a basketball star?).

            Even with these flaws, the movie does manage to be a little heartwarming. The moral is clear, and Mike’s desperate desire to stay close to and protect his children is the best seen in a live-action family comedy since Mrs. Doubtfire (though not nearly as good as Finding Nemo- sorry, Disney). Shame that this will be lost on the teeny-bopper audience waiting for Efron to stare moodily into the camera, and that audiences that would understand would never want to see this movie. Grade: B-