"When you're young, everything feels like the end of the world. But it's not; it's just the beginning."
17 Again follows Mike (Matthew Perry/Zac Efron) as he realizes he peaked in high school.
I wish I had more, but that's pretty much the entire movie.
I unfortunately was not all that fond of this, as I felt like I could predict every single plot point. I know, most rom coms have a predictable plot, but this one went too far. The minute his girlfriend walked onto the court, BAM I knew she was gonna tell him she's pregnant. From that point on, I could tell this was gonna be a "man in unhappy marriage magically turns 17 again and rekindles his love, as well as finds a new meaning to life" situation.
I will give this film credit for having a dance number and a small shopping montage, but not much else. The dance number featured Zac Efron doing the hammertime dance, so it was difficult to watch, and the montage was like... one second long.
Watching young Mike flirt with his now middle aged wife was so hard to watch. Watching his own daughter come onto him was worse. This felt like it was trying to do what the first Back to the Future movie did, but it was NOT the same.
In an attempt to find the positives, I will say that this movie did an exceptional job at making me want to rip my eyes out of my skull. When I tell you I had to pause this movie every 5 minutes, I am not exaggerating. I was so nervous watching him try to woo his wife who looks like she could be his mom. Every time his son noticed, I felt like I was going to die from embarrassment. Also, the scene were Mike gets upset at his daughter during Sex Ed class...withering, truly.
That being said, there were moments where I laughed out loud, which is more than I can say for the vast majority of these other films. The problem: it was one specific character that had me laughing. Mike's childhood best friend Ned (Thomas Lennon) was carrying this film on his back. He was so outlandish and effortlessly witty, I found myself eating out of the palm of his hand in every scene. Watching him make passes at the school principal was hilarious, and seeing his various "parent" outfits in each scene gave me something to look forward to after watching Mike slow dance with his wife in the backyard dressed in skinny jeans.
I will also admit that the ending where young Mike shows up to old Mike's divorce hearing and "reads a letter" to his wife.....that one got me. I cried a little bit when he showed that the "letter" was a blank piece of paper and he did the little swoosh kiss thing. That was the classic rom com romantic gesture I needed from this movie. It does not make up for the fact that I had to watch his daughter try to feel him up. Do not get that twisted.
Overall, it really wasn't that bad, I just loved most of the other movies more. That's why I'm ranking this movie #8. Sorry Zac Efron, your basketball days ended after the last High School Musical.
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