17 Again

It was a lazy, rainy day when I saw this film for the first time, and I went with very low expectations.  A friend and I wanted to see anything at the cinema, and 17 Again seemed the most bearable option, but not terribly promising.  I think I had some faith in Matthew Perry to be funny, but that was about it.  I hadn't seen any of the High School Musical franchise, on purpose, so as far as I was concerned Zac Efron was just another piece of candy being marketing to young girls and I didn't expect him to carry a film.

I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie.
Efron's comic timing is impressive and the boy can dance, which is somewhat randomly included in the film for no particular reason (but that's fine, I love a dance number).  My friend and I were in almost hysterics at times, I think partly due to shock at the script actually being decently amusing.
To me, this film is far more enjoyable than you, the person over 16 years old, would think.  It's harmless fun and bubble gum and it ends with a valuable lesson like the films you grew up with and there's nothing wrong with that.  I think, for me, the reason those kind of films don't work sometimes is if you don't genuinely like the characters that you're supposed to care about.  And in this film, you do like them.  The hero is has made a mistake he needs to learn from, but you don't think he's stupid.  The nerdy friend is nerdy but lovable and not unbearable, though you never quite understand why the hero chose him as a friend in the first place, except perhaps for thinking he was adorable?  The stuffy principal is trying to be professional.  Et cetera, et cetera, you get the idea.


So, I stand by this film.  I don't care that it's fluffy and stars Zac Efron.  It's fun, it means well, and it has some wonderfully timed lines that I wonder whether they were scripted or improvised.

Final Thought:  The kid who plays Alex is a quiet talent and I'll be keeping an eye out for him in movies in the future.

Up Next:  101 Dalmatians (1961) - I've realised that, with all the remakes going on these days, for many films I'll need to list the date it was made in order to specify which version I'm talking about.