Film Reviews

17 Again

• Rating:
• Director: Burr Steers
• Starring: Leslie Mann
• Details: US / 102mins (12A).

17 Again is a body swap movie that obeys Big and 13 Going on 30 rules (the hero becomes an older/younger version of themselves) and not Vice Versa or Freaky Friday rules (the hero swaps bodies with his/her father/mother).
Back in 1989, Zac Efron is the school basketball big shot but just before the finals his girlfriend Scarlet dumps him. Zac chooses to win her back instead of impressing the college scout and they get married. 20 years later and Efron has grown into Matthew Perry, a father of two kids and in the middle of divorce proceedings with Scarlet (now played by Mann). Wishing he could turn back time, Perry falls off a bridge into a whirlpool and (how is never really explained but no matter) changes into his 17-year-old self again (back to Efron). This time he's determined to finish his basketball career.
However, times have changed and Efron must defend his son Alex (Sterling Knight) from the school bully who is also dating his daughter Maggie (Buffy's Michelle Trachtenberg) while trying to convince Scarlet that he really does love her. Then things get really complicated….
It might not be the most original stories around but for those who haven't seen (and this movie's audience probably never even heard of) 18 Again, Like Father, Like Son, The Hot Chick and the above, 17 Again will be a piece of genius and it's not hard to see why. Efron is perfect in the role - he isn't just content with being Efron (which is all he had to be to get the girls interested) and decides instead to channel some of Perry's Chandler mannerisms from Friends. The sidekick role is taken by Ned Gold, who plays a geeky fanboy obsessed with the school principal Melora Hardin in a hilarious subplot that is still funny by the end credits.

A real surprise, 17 Again should clean up at the box office but it's message to teenage girls (respect yourself and don't let any guy use you) will get lost in all the laughs.

Review by Gavin Burke