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13 Going On 30
Release Date: April 23, 2004
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Director: Gary Winick
Screenwriter: Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Kathy Baker, Phil
Reeves, Andy Serkis, Samuel Ball, Kiersten Warren
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for some sexual content and brief drug references)
Official Website:
SonyPictures.com
Plot Summary: On the eve of her 13th birthday, all Jenna Rink wants is to be
pretty and popular. After a humiliating experience with the coolest kids in
school, Jenna makes a desperate wish for a new life. Miraculously her wish comes
true, but with one catch... it's 17 years later and she's a 13-year-old trapped
inside a 30-year-old's body. Jennifer Garner plays Jenna and Mark Ruffalo plays
Garner's childhood friend and love interest. Judy Greer plays Lucy, Garner's
best friend, Kathy Baker plays Garner's mother, Phil Reeves plays Garner's
father, Andy Serkis portrays Garner's boss and Samuel Ball portrays Garner's
boyfriend.
Reviewed by Peter
Veugelaers © 2004
- Better than a cheese royale: buy one while its hot
The
Tom Hanks vehicle Big (1988) where he played a boy in a man’s body has
been revived in 2004 as a Jennifer Garner (Alias) vehicle with the same
premise except now the main character is a girl. Taking girly 80s teenage
innocence and wholesomeness into the worldly city ways of adulthood circa 2004
through a transformation of wishful thinking is intriguing and Garner doesn’t
make the transition look saccharine or smoochy. Except the plot seems to believe
in the wishful thinking of its premise a little too readily so that the audience
may find they are uncommitted to believing in the product, willingly suspending
belief or not.
Still,
this is fun loving. For mainly female audiences, it is a romantic fantasy comedy
about the best things from the 80s, learning from your mistakes, and waiting for
life to unravel in its own timing and not ours: good messages for the teen
market, and although it may be a stretch for them, 30-somethings may get
something out of this as well.
The
ways of the world are at first shocking for the neophyte (the adult is played by
Garner) who is convinced that 30 is better than 13 and in an easy piece of
conventional storytelling, albeit positive and upbeat, she’s not to be
intimidated by the cardinal sins of those around her, improving on this piece’s
vehicle showcase for Garner.
The soundtrack plays like an advertisement for those best of 80s collections
(which include Michael Jackson and Madonna) but this is surprisingly more
in-depth than anticipated and unsurprisingly warm-hearted.
Garner, who is a lot of the scenes, doesn’t get into the habit of scene
stealing from the supporting players, which includes Mark Ruffalo (In the Cut)
and Andy Serkis (Gollum, from The Lord of the Rings). Garner, who is the
appealing lead, proves she is no prima donna, at least on initial appearances.
She has also extended her range convincingly from butch chick (in Alias
and Daredevil) to naïve 30-something. You might even expect a Golden
Globe nomination for comedy actress next year. This movie is a good career move.
For something lightweight, the presences of Ruffalo and Garner as school
friends who rekindle a romantic attachment while in their 30’s not only have
spark and chemistry but they at least have a layer or two and offer strong
performances. Garner is discontent with her life; Ruffalo is stable, taking it
as it comes. These polar opposites, asserting popular mythology that opposites
do attract, is comically handled with the appearance of Garner’s flamboyant
publisher (Garner plays a magazine editor) played by Andy Serkis who hasn’t
shaken the iconic status of his portrayal of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings.
The first scene with Serkis sets the tone best as the filmmaker seems to be
jibing at every subsequent edge about Gollum’s split-personality (it works
unevenly). Serkis is great all the same and proves that even in a subtle parody
has itching potential to do more (perhaps with Peter Jackson in 2005’s King
Kong).
The entertaining first half, which includes a lively musical number set piece
involving the song Thriller by Michael Jackson, follows a more
complicated second half with conventional plot developments and character
motivations, handled tastefully all the same.
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