17 Again

No one is reinventing the wheel with 17 Again, but it does get some new rims in the form of its young star, High School Musical alumnus Zac Efron. The film borrows from previous crowd pleasers like Back to the Future and Big, but, however predictable, thanks to solid performances by the cast, this comedy ends up being a fun romp for teens and adults alike.

Mike O’Donnell (Efron) is a star basketball player in high school, but his sporting dreams are put on hold when he marries his pregnant girlfriend. Cut to nearly 20 years later when the adult Mike (Matthew Perry) finds his marriage on the rocks and his job taken away. Luckily, Mike is given a second chance when he is transformed back to age 17 and enrolls in the same high school he once attended and where, yes, his kids go to now.

After becoming a heartthrob star in the ensemble High School Musical trilogy, Efron proves he can hold his own as a leading man. Likeable and attractive, he possesses enough charm and comic chops to carry a film on his shoulders. Efron does a decent job playing an adult in a teenager’s body, shining in several scenes including when he preaches abstinence in his daughter’s sex-education class and takes on his son’s bully.

Burr Steers, who made his directorial debut with 2002’s Igby Goes Down, brings nothing fresh here and Jason Filardi’s script lives at the intersection of Convenience Boulevard and Lazy Street. Therefore it’s up to the actors to take what they’ve been given and elevate it, a task they are clearly capable of.

Leslie Mann does a great job in the Lea Thompson/Back to the Future role as Mike’s wife, carefully straddling that fine line of having feelings for a 17-year-old without appearing lecherous. Thomas Lennon is the most interesting of the bunch, playing Mike’s high school nerd-turned-billionaire friend who poses as Mike’s dad and then obsessively falls for the school principal (played by the wonderful Melora Hardin of television’s The Office). Lennon almost steals the movie from Efron, but director Steers wisely keeps the spotlight on his star. Efron has great chemistry with both Mann and Lennon, proving he can keep up with the best of today’s comedy and improv actors.

Perry, who bookends the film, shows that he still has a knack for comedy, though his bag of tricks is still essentially identical to the one he employed while starring on Friends. Nonetheless, Perry has been absent from the screen long enough for us to appreciate his skills without them seeming stale. He and Efron even have similar mannerisms, leaving one to wonder whether this was an organic or creative decision. Either way it helps us to buy-in and go along for the ride.

The cast does not take itself too seriously, choosing, instead, to revel in pure and simple fun, which is the least you can hope for from an updated retread of a tried and true formula.

—Zorianna Kit
04.16.09

A former high school basketball star gets a second shot at life when he's miraculously transformed into a teenager and offered the opportunity to redefine his future. Back in 1989, Mike O' Donnell (Matthew Perry) had it all; not only was the 17-year-old senior the king of the basketball court, but college scouts were circling as well. But just as Mike's future began to glow brighter than ever before, he sacrificed everything in order to stay by his expectant girlfriend, Scarlet, and be a good father. Nearly 20 years later, Mike has just been passed over for a big promotion at work, his marriage is failing, and his teenage kids can't stand him. His dreams long gone and his family falling apart, Mike takes to staying with his best friend, Ned (Thomas Lennon), a former high school geek-turned-techno billionaire. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Mike is transported back into his teenage body and given the given the unique opportunity to relive his salad days. But while Mike may look 17 again, his thirtysomething outlook at life puts him hopelessly at odds with the class of 2009. When Mike discovers that by attempting to recapture his best years he could risk losing all the best things he ever experienced in life, the time comes to make a decision that could have a drastic impact on both his past and his future. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi