By Leah Reidenbach
lreidenbach@valenciavoice.com
When initially watching “17 Again” it was not expected to be an enjoyable experience. The flick seemed to be catered towards boy-crazy teens that love Zac Efron. But instead, it ended up being a great comedy with well-executed acting and directing.
Although this movie follows the same lines as any other “age-switch” movie, it still kept me laughing all the way through.
In the film Mike O’Donnell played by Matthew Perry is going through a divorce with his wife, Scarlett O’Donnell, played by Leslie Mann, because she is tired of him regretting his past.
In high school Mike was the popular basketball star who turned down a college basketball scholarship to marry his pregnant high school sweetheart Scarlett. After that, he spent the rest of his life looking back at what could have been.
When Mike returns to his former high school to reminisce on the best days of his life, he meets a mysterious janitor who grants his wish of reliving his high school days.
That’s when the transformation takes place and Mike O’Donnell regresses back to his 17- year old self, played by Zac Efron. With the help of his best friend Ned Gold (Thomas Lennon), the “'Star Wars' nerd", Mike tries to fulfill his dream of becoming a college basketball player.
Efron did a great job at making his character believable and likable, helping viewers to really care about what was going to happen to him and which path in life he was going to take (college basketball player or family man).
Efron’s acting was honestly outstanding, proving that he is much more than your typical Disney star. He has a lot of potential and it shows in this movie.
As for the cinematography there where some cheesy things that you could anticipate from a teen movie such as this, but that was expected.
The music choice, for instance, sometimes left me thinking, “What were they thinking?”
But, these things can be easily overlooked by the lay movie watcher.
Although “17 Again” has a predictable story line, director Burr Steers managed to take this movie in the right direction. It’s a great balance of comedy and drama that makes this movie somewhat original.
Overall, this movie is definitely worth seeing. You might be surprised, if you give
it a chance; I bet you’ll probably like it.
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