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December 13, 2009 Posted by Kazed in Reviews

17 Again review

Synopsis -

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At 17 Mike O'Donell was on top of the world; he was the star of his high school basketball team, and was a shoo in for a college scholarship. And is dating his soul mate, Scarlett. But on what's suppose to be his big game wherein college scouts are checking him out, Scarlett reveals that she's pregnant. Mike decides to leave the game and asks Scarlett to marry him which she does. During their marriage, Mike could only whine about the life he lost because he married her. So she throws him out. And when he loses his job, he returns to the only place he's happy at - his old high school. And while looking at his high school photo, a janitor asks him if he wishes he could be 17 again and he says yes. One night while driving he sees the janitor on a bridge and apparently jumps in and he goes after him. When he returns to his friend, Ned's house, where he has been staying, he sees that he is 17 again. He decides to take this opportunity to get the life he lost. Written byrcs0411@yahoo.com

Spoiler Inside

To people who have negative feelings toward Efron and his sexuality, I urge you to put them aside for this film. Alright, maybe not THAT much. Putting High School Musical aside, Zac Efron actually did a relatively decent job in 17 Again, although I could see hints of his HSM tenure, alot of the dialogue that was in parts of this film really stood out, like the scene within the cafeteria, a scene which, despite being a little cliché, worked. It worked because Efron managed not to over-dramatise the lines, but at the same time that whole scene was simply redundant. Matthew Perry was, as always, a delight to see, and hasn't rusted one bit since his last outing. As the film progressed, it began to get a little interesting, albeit clichéd. The cheesy one liners, and the romantic speeches were all too familiar, but somehow it worked with this film. Efron wasn't a complete bore in this, but actually had the capacity to show some emotion, something which I thought he couldn't do. The plot was definitely something that caught my attention throughout the whole film, the idea of becoming young again is something that makes an astounding concept, but the way it happened was far too baffling, and it just lost quite a bit of credibility from the moment he became a teenager, simply because of the way it happened. I didn't see Vanessa Hudgens anywhere though, would've been a lovely addition to the film. Leslie Mann, however, was a brilliant side attraction to a film that was average, and made the film just that little bit special. Same goes for Matthew Perry, if he wasn't co-starring in this, I most definitely would have 'second thought-ed' this film, I just wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. I did love how Efron tried to pick up some of Perry's mannerisms, I say tried, because it was like some of Perry was trying to burst out from his younger co-star's character. Despite all of this, it's quite refreshing seeing Efron in a different role, and branching out to different genres, and personally feel he is one to keep an eye on for future projects. Overall, average film, Efron- decent actor, nice to see Perry in an active role, Leslie Mann always a great sight to see, plot was familiar, but not too familiar that it made me want to pull my eyelashes out. 5.5/10 Kazed