Review: 17 Again

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

Review: 17 Again

BELOW AVERAGE

5

Source: JoBlo.com

About the Author

Chris Bumbray began his career with JoBlo as the resident film critic (and James Bond expert) way back in 2007, and he has stuck around ever since, being named editor-in-chief in 2021. A voting member of the CCA and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, you can also catch Chris discussing pop culture regularly on CTV News Channel.