Has enough fresh charm to make up for the lack of originality.
17 Again (2009)
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Reviews Counted:135
Fresh:78
Rotten:57
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Though it uses a well-worn formula, 17 Again has just enough Zac Efron charm to result in a harmless, pleasurable teen comedy.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for language, some sexual material and teen partying.
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:10-04-2009
Synopsis:
What would you do if you got a second shot at life?
Class of 1989, Mike O'Donnell (Zac Efron) is a star on the high school basketball court with a college scout in the stands and a bright future...
What would you do if you got a second shot at life?
Class of 1989, Mike O'Donnell (Zac Efron) is a star on the high school basketball court with a college scout in the stands and a bright future in his grasp. But instead, he decides to throw it all away to share his life with his girlfriend Scarlet and the baby he just learned they are expecting.
Almost 20 years later, Mike's (Matthew Perry) glory days are decidedly behind him. His marriage to Scarlet (Leslie Mann) has fallen apart, he has been passed over for a promotion at work, his teenage kids think he is a loser, and he has been reduced to crashing with his high school nerd-turned-techno-billionaire best friend Ned (Thomas Lennon).
But Mike is given another chance when he is miraculously transformed back to the age of 17. Unfortunately, Mike may look 17 again, but his thirtysomething outlook is totally uncool among the class of 2009.
And in trying to recapture his best years, Mike could lose the best things that ever happened to him.
New Line Cinema Presents An Offspring Entertainment production, 17 Again, starring Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Michelle Trachtenberg, Sterling Knight, Melora Hardin and Matthew Perry.
The film is directed by Burr Steers from a screenplay by Jason Filardi. The producers are Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot. Toby Emmerich, Mark Kaufman, Keith Goldberg and Jason Barrett are the executive producers, with Dara Weintraub serving as co-producer.
The behind-the-scenes creative team is led by director of photography Tim Suhrstedt, production designer Garreth Stover, editor Padraic McKinley and costume designer Pamela Withers Chilton. The music is composed and conducted by Rolfe Kent, and the music supervisor is Buck Damon.
17 Again will be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. --© Warner Bros
Starring: Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon
Starring: Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Michelle Trachtenberg, Sterling Knight, Melora Hardin
Director: Burr Steers
Director: Burr Steers
Screenwriter: Jason Filardi
Producer: Adam Shankman, Jennifer Gibgot
Composer: Rolfe Kent
Studio: New Line Cinema
Reviews for 17 Again
Afraid that pubescent shrieking and swooning will drown out critical plot points of this zany body-swap flick? No worries! 17 Again is essentially a flipbook of Zac Efron pictures with some sound thrown over it.
Among others, this comic fantasy borrows from 13 Going on 30, Big and even It's a Wonderful Life. But it also has some charm to it as well.
With plenty of help from a fine supporting cast, Efron deftly handles the fish-out-of-water hijinks and slips through more icky May-September romantic entanglements than an average season of Friday Night Lights.
Zac Efron is a good looking kid who exudes a sweetness and a talent for comic timing. This film rests squarely on his shoulders and he proves capable of carrying it.
It's easy to dismiss 17 Again as well-worn teenybopper fluff, but there's a shocking level of maturity here
Grafting together pieces of Big, Freaky Friday and Peggy Sue Got Married, among many others, "17 Again" hits the usual plot beats. If only any of this were funny.
It's more entertaining than it has any right to be, and I don't think I'm just saying that because I was mesmerized by Zac Efron's abs.
A high school fantasy where few classes are taken, tests are a figment of one's imagination, and the students, all of them stock exaggerations, roam the hallways without a thought in their puny minds.
The movie manages a few good jokes about inappropriate flirtations, but it never addresses the bigger questions of why the marriage went wrong or what Mike is supposed to be doing about it.
17 Again puts Disney commodity Zac Efron into a recycled Freaky Friday plot and ends up with a surprisingly un-awful 'tween comedy.
Funny and lively, with a healthy dollop of sentimentality, it reassures us that all is not lost, except maybe our six-pack abs, as we descend into schlubby, dissatisfied middle age.
The ancient body-switching premise is animated by a breezy script that briefly addresses some of its darker implications before returning to a celebration of adolescence.
17 Again is pleasant, harmless PG-13 entertainment, with a plot a little more surprising and acting a little better than I expected.
Efron, as a teen with the brain of a father, ably carries this featherweight movie.
The picture charms easily and makes a decent pass at a heart. Considering the director and the iffy premise, I think the idea of 17 Again being anything other than migraine-inducing is worth a few minutes of applause and smiley reflection.
There’s evidence that the young heartthrob might make a decent leading man if only he’d apply himself.
A slack do-over fantasy in which Zac Efron, as a basketball star, looks baffled as to why he hasn't been asked to sing and dance.
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April 20, 2009:
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April 20, 2009:
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April 19, 2009:
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