The theme of "17 Again" has been a favorite in Hollywood for many years, it has been told and retold with the HOT star at the time. We have had this movie told in movies aimed at girls, "Freaky Friday" and aimed at guys "Big" and here we get one aimed at teens. In 17 Again it's Zac Efron teen age heartthrob himself.
Popular high school senior Mike O'Donnell (Zac Efron) seemingly has it all. He is a star athlete headed straight for a college scholarship when he decides to give it up to settle down with his high school girlfriend Scarlet (Allison Miller) who it turns out is pregnant. Twenty years later, an adult Mike (Matthew Perry) finds his life is not exactly what he expected. He has spent the time blaming his wife for all his failures. He is of course now separated from, Scarlett (Leslie Mann) and is forced into living with a wealthy software genius nerd and his best friend, Ned Freedman (Thomas Lennon), his career at a pharmaceutical company is at a stand still, and his relationships with his teenage children, Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg), and Alex (Sterling Knight) is barely worth mentioning. After getting passed up for yet another promotion at work, he returns to his high school to relive his glory days, looking over his basketball awards and thinking about the life he could have had. While he is reliving his glory days, he is approached by a janitor (Brian Doyle Murray) and shares with him how things were so much better when he was 17.
As Mike is driving home from the high school, he sees the mysterious janitor standing on the ledge preparing to jump into the Los Angeles River. It's raining very hard, but Mike can still see the man on the ledge, and know who it is. Mike rushes out of his car to rescue him, but when he gets there, the janitor has vanished. Mike looks over the railing and in the water below he sees a reflection of him when he was younger. Of course Mike falls into the water, when we next see Mike he is getting out of his car and going into the shower to wash off his now muddy cloths. Mike looks up and sees himself in the mirror, his first reaction when he sees that he is now 17 again is to scream. When he goes into the other room, his friend Ned hears him walking around, when he sees Mike he thinks at first someone has broken into his apartment to rob him, and the two fight each other with gadgets and toys that Ned has collected over the years. When Ned finally believes that Mike is in fact Mike, they begin to wonder what happened and also how to reverse it.
Mike believes that his purpose is to go back to school and get the scholarship he missed out on. Mike has Ned pretend to be his father so that he can get enrolled in school again, of course when they go to enroll Mike, Ned falls for Principal Jane Masterson (Melora Hardin). When Mike goes up into the school he is at first dressed in cloths that he thinks today's teens wear, he is soon made aware of this error. Ned being the rich geek that he is, says if they are going to do this they are going to do this right. He takes Mike shopping. Once in class Mike discovers that his daughter Maggie isn't the angel he thinks she is, she is dating the basketball captain Stan (Hunter Parrish) and they make out openly in the classroom. Mike also discovers that his son Alex is the teams punching bag. One day when Mike is in the bathroom he finds Alex duct taped to the toilet and he befriends Alex, and he tries to instill him with enough confidence to join the basketball team. When Mike goes to Alex's house, which is his house, Scarlet comes home and mentions that Mike looks so much like her ex husband.
As the days pass Mike now knows he isn't young again to help himself it's to help those he gave up on in his life. Helping Alex make the team is only the beginning, Mike tries to get close to Maggie as well, but she just thinks he is kind of weird. Getting close to Scarlet is Mikes next objective, he sees the woman he fell in love with, and everything that he did to let her down. Mike realizes that he had the perfect life, but was to busy to see that, now he must find a way to get back to his adult life. The rest of the movie plays like a standard Hollywood cliche, Mike gets close to Scarlet, she is still trying to get a divorce, Alex is becoming a stronger person, Maggie is falling for dad. What? How icky is that? Unknown to Maggie, Mike is her father not someone trying to win her heart. When Stan breaks up with her, Maggie thinks Mike is trying to get close to her to date her. Later she will see Mike with Scarlet and think he is using her to get close to her mother.
Of course dad pulls himself together and turns not only his life around but also his families, now he feels he is ready to be an adult again. Making a stop at the courthouse where he is supposed to be getting a divorce, he tells the judge he has a letter from Mike, he reads this sweet letter to Scarlet telling her how much she and the kids mean to him, then he leaves. When Scarlett picks up the note Mike left behind she only sees directions written on it to the courthouse. The ending is sweet and standard Hollywood cliche, Mike turns back into the adult Mike and Scarlet runs out to him.
I give 17 again a 3 and on my avoidance scale a 0, this movie has a lot going for it, not just Zac Efron, there is more to this light movie then just the star. It is enjoyable to watch, and it makes you laugh. When Mike realizes what he is losing and makes amends, you may just find yourself crying. Go enjoy this movie, Zac Efron the actor is getting better as he progresses. Take your family to this movie, they will all laugh at this movie, and that is what it aims for.
17 Again is rated PG-13 for Language, Some Sexual Material and Teen Partying
Running time is 1 hr. 42 mins.
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