17 Again Movie Blurb by Shale April 17, 2009 Since the 16th Century when Will Shakespeare made A Midsummer Nights Dream, we seem to be drawn to these absurd romantic fantasies of spells and magic making people into someone else and the ensuing confusion. Such as Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future, having to ward off the advances of his teen mother in a previous time, to Jamie Lee Curtis changing places with Lindsay Lohan, her teen daughter in Freaky Friday. 17 Again is another such magical story with all that confusion when Mike O'Donnell (Matthew Perry) becomes his younger self (Zac Efron). The story actually opens on the young Mike who is the star high school basketball player about to be discovered by a college recruiter. That very night he finds out his girlfriend is preggers and it throws off his game and the life he could have had. He marries the girlfriend and we find him 20 years later in a humdrum life as Matthew Perry blaming his missed opportunities on his wife Scarlett (Leslie Mann). His two kids, Alex (Sterling Knight) and Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg) are typically indifferent to dad who has been kicked out of the house and is being divorced by Scarlett who can't take his recriminations any more. Mike is staying with his rich, dork friend Ned (Thomas Lennon) and going off to his job of many years where he is passed over for an expected promotion. He takes the job and shoves it (Oh, those days before the economy tanked felt so good). Mike is looking longingly at his old team foto at the high school when a magical janitor (Puck?) appears and grants him his wish to go back to that good time of his life. Of course this is momentarily frightening when you are Matthew Perry and look in the mirror and see Zac Efron - but only for a moment. Mike then gets his bud Ned to pose as his dad and enroll him in school, where he tries to steer his son with low self esteem and his daughter who's involved with a bully loser in the right direction. He becomes buddies with his son, teaching him finer points of basketball. Father & Son Shoot Hoops And, gets his daughter to realize the loser she has hooked up with. You guessed it - she immediately falls for the handsome, charming young Mike with the uncomfortable Back to the Future moment. Father & Daughter Talk While playing hoops as his son's new buddy, he comes in contact with Scarlett and some equally embarrassing moments - especially when she sees the uncanny resemblance to her younger husband. I liked the movie - a nice piece of entertaining escapism. I went to the 4:30 matinee on Friday, the "after school special" and there were a lot of kids and adolescents in the theater. I understand Efron is a teen idol from High School Musical although he's now 21 years old and will soon have to do adult roles. This was however, a playful movie and at the end credits they showed all the named participants' high school yearbook pictures. So, in that spirit: Shale High School Yearbook Pic - 17 Again Yep, one of the Dorks in High School. We invented Nerd.
This one will have to wait till it shows on TV I'm extremely picky on what is worth my dollars and worthy of the 'big' screen, and I think this one can be enjoyed at home just fine. I want to thank you for your reviews. Excellent work. I really enjoy them all. ( personal note: Hey ya bud, straight and sober three weeks now. It's boring but tolerable )
Haha I saw this on a date, and jeez... 90% of the girls in the theater were crying during the speech scene... (Thankfully not my girlfriend) With the thought of that, I was wondering how crazy that Jonas Brother's live crap was... Anyway, the movie was pretty good for a Zac Efron movie. A lot of cliche parts, especially with him starting topless in the gym... C'mon now!
So just wondering Shale, are you a pretty weekly movie viewer like myself? I usually catch a flick every week with a couple buddies (usually).
Yeah, if there is anything worth watching (and I have some pretty low standards). There are some weeks that nothing interests me - but after a couple weeks I miss the trip to the cinema. I will be going to see Wolverine on May 1st and the next week, May 8th, Star Trek.
