17 Again
Movie Review
17 Again
by Eric D. Snider
Grade: C-
Released: April 17, 2009
Directed by:
Cast:
Zac Efron wants to break out of his "High School Musical" niche, but apparently not too far out of it. In "17 Again," he plays a popular, wholesome teenager who's also the star of the school basketball team. He even dances a little. No singing, though -- what, they couldn't work in a karaoke scene or something?
Very little creative energy was expended in making this film, which is modeled after the body-swapping comedies of the late 1980s (one of which was called "18 Again!"), which in turn were reminiscent of "Freaky Friday" and "Big." The screenwriter, Jason Filardi -- who we can assume is an expert in contrived, formulaic comedy, having also written "Bringing Down the House" -- has simply mashed together a series of cliches, and the director, Burr Steers (his first film since his auspicious debut, "Igby Goes Down"), hasn't done much to improve it.
In the film's opening sequence, Efron plays Mike O'Donnell, a promising basketball player who, in 1989, while on the verge of getting a scholarship, throws it all away to marry his pregnant girlfriend, Scarlett (Allison Miller). (Welcome to the real world, "High School Musical" fans!) We skip ahead to the present, where Mike and Scarlett are played by Matthew Perry and Leslie Mann, and where they are in the middle of a divorce. Mike has apparently spent their entire marriage complaining about what he missed out on, and Scarlett has finally had enough, kicking him out of the house and forcing him to stay with Ned Gold (Thomas Lennon), his nerdy millionaire best friend.
Then, magically -- it doesn't matter how; just go with it -- Mike falls into a river and comes out as a 17-year-old (played again by Efron, of course). He has not gone back in time; he has simply reverse-aged. For some reason, he figures this means he should re-enroll in high school and do things differently this time. Ned, whose life of science-fiction fandom has prepared him for this moment, helps out by posing as Mike's dad and falsifying some documents of his existence as his son, "Mark Gold."
As it happens, they all still live in the same city they grew up in, so "Mark" is returning to his alma mater, where his own children are his classmates. Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg), whose very existence is the reason Mike and Scarlett had to get married in the first place, is a senior. She's a good kid but has a trashy, douchebag boyfriend named Stan (Hunter Parrish). Her younger brother, Alex (Sterling Knight), wants to follow in his dad's footsteps by joining the basketball team but is instead the target of bullying and abuse.
You know the drill from here. Posing as the new kid in school, "Mark" spends time with his children and slips them some wise, fatherly advice when they're not looking. And as Alex's new friend, he's able to spend time with Alex's mom, i.e., his own estranged wife. To the movie's credit, Scarlett does notice how much her son's buddy looks like Mike as a teenager. To the movie's debit, it isn't until "Mark" has said approximately a thousand things that only Mike could know that she realizes something is amiss.
Efron is gradually establishing himself as a legitimately competent actor, but "17 Again" is beyond his reach. He simply isn't convincing as an adult trapped in a teenager's body. He doesn't get much help from the story's structure, which gives us only a couple scenes with the adult Mike before he transforms -- meaning we don't have a lot of evidence of how an "adult Mike" acts, and thus can't find comedy in Efron's impersonation of it.
Much of the humor relies on Mike getting into situations that are awkward because of his secret status as an adult. A sex-ed lesson in health class, for example, turns into Mike lecturing his fellow students on the benefits of abstinence. It's awkward, yes -- but, crucially, not very funny. If you're going to make the audience squirm with embarrassment for a character, you need to make them laugh, too. And the film is rife with situations like that, including young "Mark" hitting on Scarlett and, worst of all, the inevitable moment when Maggie -- his own daughter -- puts the moves on him. Eww.
All of this happens over the course of several weeks. Doesn't anyone wonder where Mike has disappeared to? I'm just sayin'.
The saving graces are Thomas Lennon as Ned and Melora Hardin as the school principal, whom Ned has a crush on. Their scenes add nothing but padding to the film's story, yet they're easily the funniest parts. How can a movie get one thing so right while getting so many others so wrong? That's the real cosmic mystery here.
(Finally, some nitpicking about the chronology. In one of the 1989 scenes, the basketball coach, played by Jim Gaffigan, calls Mike "Vanilla Ice." That's a pretty hip reference, considering Vanilla Ice didn't become famous until 1990. More importantly, if Scarlett got pregnant with Maggie in early 1989, that would make Maggie almost 20 years old now, and thus not likely still a high school student. In one scene, Mike says it's been 18 years since he and Scarlett got married; in another, he says 20. I'm guessing the explanation is mundane: The film was supposed to be released a year ago and was probably meant to be set in 2007, not 2009.)
Grade: C-
Rated PG-13, a little mild profanity, a few relatively tame sexual references
1 hr., 42 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 12 comments
April 20, 2009 at 1:30 am
While Eric is certainly correct that this movie is modeled after the body swapping comedies of the 80s, it also very much struck me as "Reverse Back to The Future."
Instead of a son going to the high school where his dad is picked on and his mom falls in love with him, we get a dad going to the high school where his son is picked on and his daughter falls in love with him. There even scenes that seemed like homages to "future," most notably the scene in the cafeteria when Zach stands up to the school bully, and the scene where he passes out (only to wake up to say "I had the weirdest dream....." while his daughter, newly in love with him, nurses him back to health).
April 20, 2009 at 2:20 am
it would seem that Zac Efron is on track to be an extremely successful actor
April 20, 2009 at 11:55 am
I did actually enjoy this film, though it was unexpectedly as I've seen the aformentioned 18 again! and enjoyed it in all it's cheesy glory. As a result of this I expected 17 again to be dire, end of. so yes, pleasently surprised.
However, I have to agree with you that the funniest parts of the film were any scenes involving Ned or the principle, they were funny but cringeworthy in equal measure and added some much needed laughs to the script.
April 20, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I did notice the Back to the Future nods but they were half done at best. I enjoyed the movie but it feel like it had trouble making up its mind which direction it wanted to go. You've got, It's a Wonderful Life, Freaky Friday, Back to the Future, 18 Again and other similar movies being borrowed here but it never quite meshes well. Zac Efron has potential but the movie spends way too much time making him pose for the camera and beating us over the head and how handsome he is. He's definitely no Michael J. Fox if that's what he was going for here.
Matthew Perry is also miscast. He looks and acts nothing like an older Zac Efron. Also the scenes from 1989 look and feel almost the same as the present day scenes. The only thing to remind us it's 1989 is the "Bust a move" song by Young MC. I don't get why his girlfriend was so overdressed but that's a small issue.
Speaking of Back to the Future, Melora Hardin who plays the principal was originally cast as Marty McFly's girlfriend but replaced when female producers objected to the noticeable height difference between her and Michael J. Fox. Interesting tidibt.
April 20, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Interesting, Seasider. I assume they recast Marty McFly's girlfriend after recasting Marty (who was originally Eric Stoltz). And since Eric is a good 6 - 8 inches taller than Michael J. Fox, Melora probably got replaced because Eric got replaced.
April 20, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I saw this the other day & actually enjoyed it a lot. I'm not a big Zac Efron fan, but thought he did a pretty good job with the material he had to work with. Totally agree that Matt Perry was miscast. I love Matt, but he just didn't fit the part & was totally beyond the scope of belief that Zac Efron would even be his kid, let alone himself in 20 years. Also totally agree that Ned basically stole the movie from everyone.(I'd have made some cool basketball reference there, but I'm really sports challenged!)If anything, pay for a matinee & see the movie for his character! It's not a regular price movie, but for a matinee or even waiting for it to hit the dollar movies, it's a fun way to pass a couple of hours.
April 22, 2009 at 3:47 pm
During the sex-ed scene, I thought to myself, if he is going to be preaching to this class about abstinence, I want my money back.
April 23, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I totally agree with Eric on this one. A fair amount of critics actually liked this? I mean, I went into the movie thinking........this same tired story again? That being said, if it was funny I could forgive the lack of originality. Like Eric said......Thomas Lennon was great as his usually is, the rest of the scenes weren't funny at all.
April 24, 2009 at 4:39 am
I thought Zac Efron's dance scene with the cheerleaders was actually the funniest scene that didn't include Thomas Lennon. The sad thing is I don't think it was meant to be funny. To go a little further with what Eric was saying about this being almost the same role for him as the HSM franchise. How do you think the conversation went with Zac and his agent.
Agent: I got a great role for you......a real challenge!
Zac: Really? tell me more.
Agent: You start out being young, the star of the high school basketball team, all the girls will love you, and you're even a great dancer. Then something weird happens and you look the same but now you're 20 years older. You're married with teenage kids and a job in the real world.
Zac: Cool..... it sounds like HSM but now I have to keep my job while trying explain to everyone I work with what happened. My clients are going to have to repect me even though I look like a kid. It has potential.
Agent: Zac.....Zac- let's not get crazy. We're alredy taking a risk that you're not singing all of your dialogue like in HSM and Hairspray. The adult you is going go back to school. You're going to be the star of the high school basketball team, all the girls will love you, and you're even a great dancer.
Zac: What's the difference between young me and adult me?
Agent: Young you does a fast dance.......adult you does a slow dance. Young you has sex with your teenage girlfriend. Adult you tells people not to have sex as teenagers.
Zac: I might get confused........let me call my buddy Eric D Snider. (Phone conversation ends) Eric says I need a karaoke scene to keep me in my element so I can tackle such a challenging role.
Agent: I'll see what I can do but can't make any promises.
April 25, 2009 at 5:01 pm
This movie reminds me so much of "Back to the Future!" Its reverse. in BTTF, Marty (son)goes back in time & attends to the school where his parents are in & where he also goes to currently. 17 again, Mike (father) becomes 17 & enrolls into the same school his kids are in & is also where he went to as a highschooler in the 80's. same stuff happens, Marty becomes friends w/ his own dad(George), who doesnt know that Marty is his son, who has been bullied & helps him with his problem to get w/ a girl (Marty's mom). Mike also is friends w/ his son(Alex)(also been harrassed)& doesnt know Mike is his dad. Mike and Marty, both stood up to the bully in a cafteria scene & the fact was that Marty & his dad were both sitting in the same table alone and the same happens to Mike & his son. though Marty and mike became an unknown new student who people arent fimiliar w/. Then Marty's mom( Lorraine), who doesnt know he is her son, had the hots for him. Mikes daughter(Maggie) later became attractive to him! Marty was horrofied to see that his own mom was sexualy active as a teen. Mike was also shocked that Maggie is also one too. there is also the same scene where both marty & mike got hit in the head & Lorraine & Maggie were takin care of them. while they were sleeping they said that they had a horrible dream & thought the whole thing was just a nightmare. but they woked up and notice that their daughter or mom was right there having the urge to siduce them. marty & mike was shoked and fell off the bed to not let them touch them. But in that scene, mike still had pants on. lorraine took off martys pants while he was sleeping. theres more, but i dont want 2 type nomore. So theres definetly alot of similar scenes between "17 again" & "Back to the future"
April 27, 2009 at 11:23 pm
I liked it. I was literally crying...especially when Ned storms into the court and he says, "You can't handle the truth!" heh heh...
April 28, 2009 at 1:39 pm
I dont get it....I see my pictures 20 yrs ago...I didnt look like a hotter version of me...How did Zac efron become Mathew Perry??? Im no Zac Efron fan but he is a a pretty pretty boy and matt perry..although cute...is not...huh!!