17 Again (Warner Brothers)
Zacs Got Game
17 Again is another one of those movies where an older person gets young, or a younger person gets old overnight! Weve seen it in 13 Going On 30, Big and others. Still for some bizarre reason 17 Again entertains and finds something new in this old formula. The secret ingredient is probably Zac Efron..
Zac Efron plays Mike ODonnell, a high school heartthrob who has a very rosy future ahead of him. He is a star on the basketball court and is being scouted by the college teams. But on one of his biggest nights he finds out his girlfriend Scarlett (Allison Miller) is pregnant. He makes a decision to marry her and give up his college basketball dreams.
Eighteen years later Mike (now played by Matthew Perry) is miserable. He and Scarlett (now played by Leslie Mann) are getting a divorce, and he is not close to either of his two children, Alex and Maggie (Sterling Knight and Michelle Trachetberg). The only happiness he has is reflecting back on his high school career.
One day he is at the high school and starts talking with a grizzled janitor. This leads to a magical incident whereby he does get a chance to go back to high school. He becomes seventeen again in looks but he keeps the mature mind and spirit of his older self inside him.
Watching the seventeen year old Mike relate to his now contemporary children, and also longing for his now older woman wife is the heart of the film. It gives it the twist it needs and makes it entertaining and emotional at the same time.
Efron is great as the teenage Mike. This film shows he can carry a movie without just being part of the supporting cast, as he was in the High School Musicals and Hairspray. He is charming, good looking, athletic and a fairly good actor. He even gets a chance to show a few dance moves.
Mann strikes just the right balance as the older Scarlett who has feelings for the teenager she meets who looks just like her husband did when he was younger. She is constantly having to clear her head to ignore the feelings her heart is providing.
Matthew Perry doesnt get a chance to do much with the character of the older Mike. The movie belongs to Efron and Perry virtually has only a cameo in the film. He probably shot more scenes but they were removed to give more screen time to the younger Mike.
A subplot involving Mikes friend Ned (Thomas Lennon) and his crush on the school principal Melora Hardin) adds even more fun to the show. These two are in their own little world and it works.
The film is rated PG-13 for mild profanity and some sexual situations.
Zac Efron raises his movie star potential up a notch with his role in this film. Everyone in the film is good but Efron stands head and shoulders above them all. If he keeps picking satisfying roles like this one he should be a star for a long time.
I scored 17 Again a reborn 7 out of 10.
