17 Again (2009)
Directed by Burr Steers
Written by Jason Filardi
Starring Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Michelle Trachtenberg
Release Date April 17th, 2009
Published April 18th, 2009
Zac Efron is a star. Granted, his fanbase hasn't passed the 6th grade yet but still. The kid has got It, that indefinable quality. That thing that draws people to you and makes them want to follow you wherever you go. Zac Efron has that talent and when he masters it he will be a huge star, 6th Grade and up.
17 Again stars Zac Efron as Mike who in High School was captain of the basketball team on the fast track to a scholarship, college and who knows from there. Then, his girlfriend Scarlett, played as a teen by Allison Miller, tells him she's pregnant. Mid-game Mike throws it all away and leaves to be with Scarlett.
20 years later and 2 kids later Mike, now played by Matthew Perry, is miserable. He regrets walking out of that game and not getting his scholarship. Having immediately taken a miserable job right out of high school, he finds himself a sales driod at a pharmaceutical company where he is passed over for promotions by people just out of college.
His misery has cost him his marriage and kids. Scarlett (Leslie Mann) resents being treated as the reason Mike is a failure. Thus, she has started divorce proceedings. His kids, 17 year old Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg) and 16 year old Alex (Sterling Knight) are basically strangers. She's dating the high school bully while Alex is getting beat up by said bully.
Tossed out of the house, Mike is staying with his best pal from high school Ned (Thomas Lennon), a nerd turned multi-millionaire nerd. Ned sleeps in a replica Speeder from Stars Wars, what does that tell you. He too is somewhat irritated by Mike's sadsack qualities but is thankfully more tolerant than most.
One day when Mike goes to his old High School to see his kids he meets a kindly janitor (Brian Doyle Murray) and confesses he would give anything to do it all over again. Later, seeing the janitor on the ledge of a bridge in a heavy rainstorm, Mike races to stop the old man only to fall in the river himself. The next morning he finds he is 17 Again only he didn't go back in time.
Now, he has the chance to be the Big Man on Campus again while really getting to know his two kids and see what modern high school is like. Oh, and then there is Scarlett and some very awkward moments where the word cougar and and the vulgar term Milf are uttered. Ugh.
Ok, so the movie 17 Again is not a very original or smart movie. You can get that quite easy from my description. And yet, I still recommend it. Yes, I recommend 17 Again. I do it because Zac Efron is a star. The kid comes into his own in this movie. He has presence, charisma and a terrific talent for self deprecating humor.
The self deprecation can be deceiving among the very good looking. For some it can seem condescending. For Efron it's an effortless goofball quality that plays very genuine. Indeed there is an earnestly unaffected quality to Efron in this film that is missing from the skill-less High School Musical films.
Those movies were directed with a minimum of talent for storytelling and character development. Director Burr Steers on the other hand has little to rely on other than storytelling and character development and thus coaxes from Efron a performance that carries 17 Again over even the largest of pitfall cliches.
Do not be mistaken, 17 Again is far from great. It's far too pat and predictable to break out of its genre constrictions. It comes down to Efron entirely to make this work and that he pulls it off is a true test of his talent and star power. He may have become well known thanks to High School Musical but Zac Efron becomes a star in 17 Again.
