Plot: Mike O’Donnell (Zac Efron) seemingly has it all- popularity, good looks, a beautiful girlfriend, and a lock on a basketball scholarship that will land him at a top flight university. On the eve of the big game, his girlfriend announces that she’s pregnant, and O’Donnell gives up on his dreams in order to start a family. Seventeen years later- O’Donnell’s (Matthew Perry) life is in a shambles. He’s working a dead end job, is despised by his kids, and his wife (Leslie Mann) is filling for divorce. If only he could be seventeen again… Oh wait- he can, thanks to a mystical janitor who’s obviously seen his share of Corey Feldman/ Corey Haim movies.
Review: 17 AGAIN is less a film, than a two hour ode to Zac Efron’s dreaminess. The film starts with Efron, shirtless, sweaty and playing b-ball, before launching him into a dance routine to Young MC’s Bust-a Move- which provoked lots of squeals of delight, and OMG’s from the theater full of teenage girls that I saw this with.
Luckily, things do get better from here. While it’s still a pretty tame, cookie cutter teen flick, it’s practically a Gus Van Sant film compared to the mind numbing, Mickey Mouse Club theatrics of the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL franchise. In this film, Efron gets to PG-13 things up a bit, although it’s still a pretty safe follow up to his Disney flicks.
Overall, I somewhat enjoyed 17 AGAIN, mostly due to Thomas Lennon, fresh from his scene stealing turn in I LOVE YOU, MAN, who’s on hand as Efron/ Perry’s sci fi geek BFF. Every scene with Lennon is a keeper, and luckily, he’s got a sizable role. He’s particularly funny when he poses as Efron’s dad in order to chase after the hot high school principal (Melora Hardin from THE OFFICE). I also liked Leslie Mann, although she’s somewhat wasted in a fairly straight-laced part, and does not get a chance to be as funny as she’s been in some of her other films.
It was also nice seeing Matthew Perry back on the big screen, although I was disappointed by his limited screen time. I also had a hard time believing that Zac Efron & Matthew Perry were playing the same person, as they don’t really resemble each other- either in looks or mannerisms.
The main reason I was curious to see this film is due it’s director Burr Steers, who helmed an awesome flick called IGBY GOES DOWN a couple of years ago. Watching this, I found it hard to believe that it was directed by the same man, but heck- a guy’s got to eat!
Still, 17 AGAIN isn’t a bad film, although if you’re not a massive Zac Efron fan (but really- who isn’t?) you don’t really have a reason to check this out. Overall though, this was a pretty painless way to spend ninety minutes, but I doubt this is going to be much of a crossover film for Efron, although it will surely please the teenage girl constituent. It’s very much a middle of the road teen flick, and truthfully, despite having seen the film only a few hours ago, I barely remember anything about it, other than the fact that at times I was mildly amused. Still, this is a vast, vast improvement on how I felt about HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, which made me feel like the movie theater has transformed into my own personal hell for the duration of the film. This is a good first step out of Disney’s shadow for Efron, but for his next film, he needs to do something radically different if he wants to have a career past the age of twenty five.
Grade: 5.5/10
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