Amazon Holiday

Friday, April 24, 2009

17 Again

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: If you don't know what this movie is about from looking at the title, you're an idiot.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Matthew Perry, Sterling Knight, Michelle Tractenberg, Hunter Parrish, Melora Hardin, Jim Gaffigan, Brian Doyle-Murray, Nicole Sullivan

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: PhotobucketGo! It's been done before, it'll be done again, but I don't think it will ever stop being a good time for all. Anyway, you can't really go wrong with a premise about suddenly changing ages, and getting mixed up in weird sexual situations like having to avoid your daughter's come-ons and resist your own attraction to your currently age-inappropriate wife.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Not guaranteed, but it will definitely make you smile.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Zac Efron is like porn for the 16 and under crowd. And since the movie opens on shots of his shirtless 6 pack abs, some girls will be screaming and crying by the end of the first scene.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: I'll bet Matthew Perry would give it an award for Movie I Most Wish Were My Real Life and Not some Made-up Story. Can you imagine if every time his life fell apart, he got to turn into a mature version of Zac Efron? Those hard times he fell on during the height of Friends never would've happened.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: All Zac Efron has to do to get the ladies screaming is walk to the beat of the soundtrack, looking cool. It's a good thing for him, too, cuz that's kind of what he does best. And I'm so glad that Leslie Mann married Judd Apatow, so that he could put her in his movies, so that Hollywood could get a chance to recognize how funny she is, and let her be a star in her own right.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: You can tell this director comes from an indy background, because he takes a story that is an otherwise standard example of what comes out of the studio machine, and tries to add some art to it. Sure it draws attention to itself as being totally on the nose, but if you didn't know from the actor's expression that he was going through a difficult time, at least the blatant lighting shift from bright and cheery to dark and dismal telegraphs that for you at every phase. The good news is, it's no longer important for an actor to convey his own feelings, when the dramatic shift in lighting and music can do most of it for him. And that means we can cast more really good-looking, totally talentless people in stuff!

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The set up is really heavy handed, with lines like, "You're my best friend"-- as if we couldn't tell. And, "If your wife hadn't kicked you out and your kids didn't hate you, etc."-- in case we weren't going to catch on to the family dynamic depicted in the very next scene... But once Matthew Perry turns into Zac Efron the fun begins, and the clunky exposition takes a rest.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/17-again/33126/trailers

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5 comments:

Reel Whore said...

I'm a fan of Leslie Mann and 'the Trach' so I will be seeing this at some point. I'm glad to hear it's not excruciating.

Kenny Wyland said...

So after yellow yellow yellow yellow yellow yellow yellow yellow yellow yellow.... 17 Again get's the green?

Zac Efron is like porn for the 16 and under crowd. And since the movie opens on shots of his shirtless 6 pack abs, some girls will be screaming and crying by the end of the first scene.My gut is telling me that you're one of the girls screaming and crying...

Monique said...

You know Kenny, sometimes you get tired of giving yellow lights. And for the audience it's aiming at, this is a very satisfying movie, that has the decency to keep all its major flaws within the first five minutes.

And I wouldn't say I'm one of those screaming and crying girls-- my hormones stopped raging out of control years ago-- BUT I do enjoy the excitement those screaming and crying girls fill the theater with to no end! It's almost worth the money just to watch their reactions. (Same goes for the Hannah Montana movie.)

Prisqua said...

the only reason I have been catching up on some movies lately is because I have spending a lot of time in planes and yes when i first saw this movie I immediately thought of 30 something but Zac is quite cute :) and it was an ok movie. I would not go out of my way to watch it but worth seeing.

Hitesh Rawat said...

it felt ......so so to me....one time watchable......NED was good......Zac did some good work......on the whole....a time pass movie....you can watch it.....but very predictable....