The awkwardness of adolescence is timeless, and regardless of your age, you'll find something -- or many things -- to love in 13 Going on 30.
13 Going on 30 (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:157
Fresh:101
Rotten:56
Average Rating:6.1/10
Consensus: The plot's nothing new, but Garner shows a lovable flair for romantic comedies.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: It is 1987 and Jenna is a 13-year-old girl on the brink of womanhood. The problem is that adulthood is just not arriving fast enough. She's suffocated by her dorky parents, ignored by the hip kids... It is 1987 and Jenna is a 13-year-old girl on the brink of womanhood. The problem is that adulthood is just not arriving fast enough. She's suffocated by her dorky parents, ignored by the hip kids in school and the cute guy she has a crush on barely knows her name. No longer content to spend time only with her best friend and neighbor, Matt Flamhaff, Jenna invites the cool kids to her 13th birthday party. But the party is a disaster. Jenna is humiliated when she's locked in the closet for a game of “Seven Minutes in Heaven” and everyone deserts her. Alone in the closet, Jenna makes an earnest wish. If only she could be all grown up, she'd have the life she's always wanted. Miraculously, her wish comes true. The next day, when Jenna emerges from the closet, it's 2004 and she's 30 years old. What's more, she is a gorgeous successful woman (Jennifer Garner) with a great job and a fabulous Fifth Avenue apartment. She is finally cool and popular. The only hitch? She has absolutely no idea how she got there. Initially frightened but gradually enchanted by her new life, Jenna soon realizes there's something missing — Matt. When she looks him up, she is horrified to discover that she and Matt (Mark Ruffalo) are no longer in contact and he is engaged to be married. Jenna learns that having it all is not enough and decides to take a second chance at first love. Now her biggest wish is that it's not too late. Revolution Studios Presents A Roth/Arnold Production, A Gina Matthews Production 13 Going on 30, a Columbia Pictures release starring Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Andy Serkis and Kathy Baker. The film is directed by Gary Winick from a screenplay by Cathy Yuspa & Josh Goldsmith and Niels Mueller, and a story by Yuspa & Goldsmith. The producers are Gina Matthews, Susan Arnold and Donna Arkoff Roth. The executive producers are Todd Garner and Dan Kolsrud. The director of photography is Don Burgess, ASC. The costume designer is Susie DeSanto. The production designer is Garreth Stover. The film editor is Susan Littenberg. The music is by Theodore Shapiro. The music supervision is by John Houlihan. 13 Going on 30 has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for Some Sexual Content and Brief Drug References. -- © Columbia Pictures [More]
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Andy Serkis
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Andy Serkis, Kathy Baker
Director: Gary Winick
Director: Gary Winick
Screenwriter: Cathy Yuspa, Josh Goldsmith, Niels Mueller
Producer: Gina Matthews, Susan Arnold, Donna Arkoff Roth
Composer: Theodore Shapiro
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Reviews for 13 Going on 30
Essentially a facsimile, and feels throughout like a movie content to imitate and borrow.
When we first spy suburban washout Jenna Rink at the age of 13, the year is supposedly 1987 -- yet she's madly in love with Rick Springfield and has memorized the choreography to 'Thriller.'
It's nice to know that, Hanks or Garner, male or female, Big is still an idea that works, 16 years after it opened.
Frothier than the sweetest drink at Starbuck's and deft in the slapstick department, the actress turns a generic female version of Big into a raucously charming teen fairy tale.
It's a surprisingly charming and fresh comedy that only becomes painfully saccharine in its last 20 minutes.
Garner is so appealing as Jenna ... that she almost makes you forget you've already seen Tom Hanks endure similar travails in 1988's Big.
Miraculously Garner survives all this, giving a vibrant performance that actually does suggest an awkward teenager in a 30-year-old's body.
The script by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa is clever and Winick's direction and tone is breezy.
It's not silly enough to be a youth comedy and not sophisticated enough to be a satisfying adult movie.
The lanky action star of the cult television series Alias is assigned a tired playbook in this film, but she finds room to manoeuvre in a performance that exceeds expectations.
It turns out Garner is a natural comedian with real presence. And, ultimately, her convincing performance is what makes 13 Going on 30 watchable.
It's cute, occasionally funny, and sweetly sentimental. Score some points guys, take your chick to this chick-flick.
Often 13 Going on 30's pleasures aren't deep so much as they are the trained responses to a push of our MTV-programmed buttons.
You buy the magic because it comes with the territory. What I couldn't buy was the world of the magazine office, and the awkward scenes in which high-powered professionals don't seem to notice that they're dealing with a 13-year-old mind.
Once you get past its inherent marshmallow fluffiness ... 13 Going on 30 does provide some genuinely diverting moments.
Even when its laughs aren't as (pardon the pun) big as they should be, '13' doesn't lose the audience, and that's mostly because its leading lady is so much fun to watch.
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