17 Again (2009)

Director:

Burr Steers

Writer (WGA):

Jason Filardi (written by)

Release Date:

17 April 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Who says you're only young once?

Plot:

About a guy whose life didn't quite turn out how he wanted it to and wishes he could go back to high school and change it. He wakes up one day and is seventeen again and gets the chance to rewrite his life.

Plot Keywords:

School | High School | Janitor | Basketball | Friend

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Zac Efron	...	Mike O'Donnell (Teen)
Leslie Mann	...	Scarlett O'Donnell (Adult)
Thomas Lennon	...	Ned Gold
Matthew Perry	...	Mike O'Donnell (Adult)
Tyler Steelman	...	Ned Gold (Teen)
Allison Miller	...	Scarlett (Teen)
Sterling Knight	...	Alex O'Donnell
Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Maggie O'Donnell
Adam Gregory	...	Dom
Hunter Parrish	...	Stan
Mario Cassem	...	Samir
Katerina Graham	...	Jaime
Tiya Sircar	...	Samantha
Melissa Ordway	...	Lauren
Melora Hardin	...	Principal Jane Masterson

Also Known As:

Seventeen (USA) (working title)
Seventeen Again (USA) (alternative spelling)
Untitled Zac Efron Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language, some sexual material and teen partying.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44550) | Australia:PG | Ireland:12A | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Netherlands:6 | France:U | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | Iceland:L | Norway:7 | Mexico:B | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:o.Al. | New Zealand:PG | South Korea:15 | Taiwan:GP | South Africa:10M | Denmark:A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-7 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Offspring Entertainment

Trivia:

Zac Efron called Matthew Perry for help on his lines and mimicking some of his movements to give a more authentic performance.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mike/Mark is shooting free-throws before the second big game there are seven balls on the rack including one on the top tier, after he talks to the coach there are only five with none on the rack and there hasn't been time or the sound of another shot.

Quotes:

Mike O' Donnell: [to Maggie] I'm not gay!

Movie Connections:

References The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Soundtrack:

Cherish

We've all seen this movie before!

I'm starting to suspect that Hollywood no longer uses actual, human screenwriters to create their movies. After watching years of the same, recycled trash, I'm starting to think that they now use a screenplay-writing machine to do it.

This machine works very simply. A producer will enter the main character's name, one problem they are facing, and one 'gimmick' (an unusual plot twist often used as a selling point for the film), and hey presto! - out pops a completed, and entirely unoriginal screenplay. Such is the case for 17 Again.

Mike O'Donnell is a depressed suburban father (sounds familiar already, doesn't it?) whose wife is divorcing him, kids can't stand him, and who just got passed over for a promotion. As the movie progressed, it started to seem very, very familiar - a crippling combination of unoriginal jokes, stereotypical characters and recycled plot devices. My friends and I started to grin and sneeringly guess what was going to happen later in the film, and guess what: most of the time, we were right.

We've all seen this movie before - it's been pieced together from the discarded carcasses of films past, by a flock of vultures seemingly so unaccustomed to originality in film-making that they have been rendered unable to create any plot twist even slightly unexpected or interesting. And don't even get me started on Zac Efron's acting (or lack of such).

Two small good things. Out of the dozens of jokes thrown at us, a select few - maybe five - were genuinely hilarious. Other than that, though, the humor relied on the the faux-improvised, overly-awkward style of comedy popularized by Seth Rogen and co. It doesn't work here. The other highlight, of course, was Matthew Perry. He's the man, and an excellent comic actor, but his short on-screen time was not enough to salvage this unoriginal, unfunny, and worst of all boring attempt at light entertainment. Perhaps if the film had eliminated the dramatic aspects and stuck to being a comedy, it could have succeeded, but this is one movie I certainly would not want to see again.