| Overall Grade: |
C+ |
|
| Story: |
C |
|
|
| Acting: |
B- |
|
|
| Direction: |
B- |
|
|
| Visuals: |
B- |
|
|
Old fashioned, family safe and Zac Efron
by bck (movies profile)
Jun 4, 2009
4
of
4 people found this review helpful
So, why would I even bother with this one?
Honestly, I dunno. It's neither a sequel nor a prequel to 18 Again!, a body-swap movie that starred George Burns and Charlie Schlatter. I saw that one ages ago on video and I do remember enjoying it (Ah.. Jennifer Runyon was so cute).
17 Again isn't quite one of the 'body swap' movies because only one person experiences the change - Mike O'Donnell (Matthew Perry as the adult Mike, Zac Efron as the young Mike). Despite some of the proceedings in the story, it's not quite It's A Wonderful Life either as Mike, feeling a little miserable over the last 20 years of his life, gets a second chance at being, well... 17 again.
This is typical stuff, so there's nothing too extraordinary to really make this one shine. It's about as safe as a typical Disney Family Film (except this is not from Disney despite starring Disney's High School Musical star, Efron). If anything, it's a vehicle for Efron to showcase some acting chops, playing a teen who's much wiser beyond his years, and there are a few scenes where he gets to really act instead of just getting by on looks.
While Matthew Perry plays the adult Mike, he doesn't really have that much time to fully give us a character except to understand how miserable his life has been, which leaves Efron to pretty much run with the character. The rest of the cast do as best as they can with the material with only Thomas Lennon being truly memorable as Mike's best friend, the geeky/ dorky Ned (he sleeps in a Star Wars land-speeder bed and can speak Elvish, going as far as referencing comics, sci-fi books and other such material to comprehend Mike's condition).
This one is more for fans of Zac Efron, and it does look like he's got a very bright future ahead of him if he can get away from these roles. Hopefully, it'll be the last 'high school' movie from him in a very long while (like, returning to play a teacher or parent about 20 years down the line). Just hope he doesn't disappear the way Charlie Schlatter did (TV land with series and voice work). Nothing too spectacular, but a decent time-waster. |
My Public Profile 
