This week I'm reviewing the 2009 Hollywood comedy 17 Again . Its poster displays the rising star Zac Efron in a fashionable young look. At first glance this seems to be a musical primarily aimed at teenage audiences. However, the film offers something unexpected, refreshing and caters to a wider range of audience.
In 1989 17-year-old Mike O'Donell was a star basketball player of Hayden High School and a promising candidate for a full college scholarship. However, right before a game during which college scouts are checking him out, his girlfriend Scarlett reveals that she's pregnant. Mike decides to leave the game and asks Scarlett to marry him.
Twenty years later, Mike has fallen from top of the world to the worst point of his life. The mid-aged man finds himself a loser in both his career and family life. His two kids don't get on with him and his wife Scarlett is asking for a divorce.
Then the story adds a magical touch. While paying a visit to Hayden High School to reminisce about his past glory days, he encounters a mysterious janitor, who casts a spell on Mike and turns him back to 17 again.
Of course, the old switching age story has bee adopted by many motion pictures. But this one doesn't merely fasten itself onto the story as a novelty; instead, it examines the mid-life crisis and generation gap in depth. 17 Again is not a typical teen flick, even though it appears to be one at first glance. I'd rather define it a family-themed drama with a light-hearted approach.
Such a story may easily fall into the trap of preaching social ethics. I bet that every moviegoer will squirm during the scene when Mike's daughter Maggie has a crush on her same-aged father or Scarlett flirts with her teenage husband. These sub-plots are not necessary to tell the story of the film but the director's experiments make me squirm from time to time.
Zac Efron is the soul of this movie. He delivers a much better performance than I expected. High School Musical franchise may have brought him stardom but this movie could provide him with far more acting opportunities since his character Mike O'Donell breaks many people's image of him as an immature actor that only knows about singing and dancing.
All in all, it's a nice movie to watch. It gets a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
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