Call me crazy, but this Zac Efron fellow might have a future.
The High School Musical star impressed in Hairspray,
and now he gets to headline in 17 Again. Yes, it’s another one
of those “man gets a chance to be young again” films, and yes, much of
it feels like recycled sitcom pap. Fortunately, Efron anchors the film
with a winning, charming performance that has me looking forward to his
future film roles, and hoping good directors give him chances to make
some quality work.
That’s not to say this film is bad. There is nothing new here, but
it is enjoyable thanks to the lead’s star power. Efron hosted a recent
Saturday Night Live, and I was impressed with his poise and
comic abilities. (Like Justin Timberlake, Efron seems to have developed
some decent comic chops thanks to his Disney upbringing.) His timing is
even good enough to make some lame jokes funny.
The film starts as teenager Mike O’Donnell (Efron) is readying
himself for a big high school basketball game sure to be attended by
college scouts. The year is 1989, and Mike has it all: big dreams, big
talent and a fabulous girlfriend named Scarlett. As the game begins,
Scarlett drops a bomb, and Mike makes a big impromptu decision.
Cut to 20 years later. Mike (played in adulthood by Matthew Perry)
has become a sullen whiner who fails to see the beauty in his life,
which features a still-fabulous Scarlett (the ever-reliable Leslie
Mann) and two great kids, Alex and Maggie (Sterling Knight and Michelle
Trachtenberg). After getting passed over for a promotion, he visits his
old high school to sulk, meets a mysterious janitor (Brian
Doyle-Murray) and, through movie magic, becomes 17 (and Zac Efron)
again.
The film wastes little time on the potential trauma of such an
occurrence, as Mike makes a quick decision to return to school and do
things right this time. He shacks up with his high school buddy, the
now grown-up Ned (Thomas Lennon of Reno 911), a software king
who never let go of his geek tendencies. He’s a rich man who spends his
money on things like Luke Skywalker’s land speeder, which he uses for a
bed.
Ned pretends to be Mike’s dad, and they enroll him in school. Things
get weird as Mike discovers his son is a dweeb who gets taped to
toilets, and his daughter is dating the class asshole who wants sex.
Befriending his kids eventually gets him near his wife, somebody he was
divorcing before the whole getting-young thing happened. Obviously,
being around the wife while occupying a 17-year-old’s body creates
confusion.
Efron breezes through the film, taking his role seriously and
transcending the material. He’s also rather good at capturing some of
Perry’s adult mannerisms. (At times, he seems to be channeling Chandler
Bing.) His ability makes it believable that his character could grow up
to be Perry, even though the two don’t look much like each other.
The supporting cast is equally up to the task. Mann, always good in
her husband Judd Apatow’s movies, is quickly becoming one of the better
comic actresses working today. Lennon takes a real goofball role and
makes the character endearing. Perry, in his few scenes, does his usual
shtick, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The film rips off many sources, especially Big and Back to
the Future, and it does it without shame. Still, the actors,
especially Efron, make 17 Again mildly entertaining, slightly
above-average fare.
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2009.