Teen sensation Zac Efron stars in this comedy that finds a man returning to his teens to straighten out his life. The film relies heavily on Efron’s charm and primarily succeeds because of it.
Mike O’Donnell’s (a haggard Matthew Perry) life has gone downhill from his glory days in high school. He married his high school sweetheart Scarlet (Leslie Mann, with Allison Miller playing her at 17) and they had two kids, Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Alex (Sterling Knight). However, the present finds him separating and divorcing from Scarlet.
He has moved in with his best friend Ned (Thomas Lennon), a geek who is now a millionaire, and is awaiting the court date that will end his marriage. He goes back to his old high school to pick up his kids and encounters a mysterious janitor (Brian Doyle-Murray) who asks him if he’d like to relive his high school age over again.
Of course, he wants to return to his glory days. He goes back to Ned’s house to discover that he’s been transformed back to 17 (Zac Efron) but has a hard time convincing Ned that he’s really Mike. Since he’s seen things like this in movies before (that might be one of the film’s downfalls is that we’ve seen it all before) and knows that the protagonist has to go on a “spiritual journey.”
He masquerades as Ned’s son and enrolls in his old high school. Ned is enamored with principal Masterson (Melora Hardin), but Mike discovers that his kids are not a successful as he first imagined.
His daughter is dating the school thug Stan (Hunter Parrish) who also torments his son. Alex is in love with the head cheerleader but is too scared to approach her as well as wanting to tryout for the basketball team but is also afraid to tryout. Mike starts to try and make his kid’s lives better, but he also starts to notice his wife again and thinks that he might not be so eager to go through with the divorce as he first imagined.
He starts off the film, turns into Perry, and then goes back to Efron before ending up as Perry again. Perry certainly looks all of his 37 years, but Efron is the picture of youth. The film certainly picks up a better head of steam when he’s around with all his charm.
Since the parental side of adulthood is cloaked in the form of Efron, it’s funny to hear him spouting diatribes about abstinence, etc. to try and influence his kids. Not to mention that he starts trying to rekindle his relationship with his wife and it looks like he’s going cougar hunting.
There are some funny bits with Lennon trying to go after Hardin as well as Lennon’s collection of movie memorabilia. The film certainly evokes other flicks, Freaky Friday, Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa, Peggy Sue Got Married, and of course 18 Again - but it does well on the charm of Efron.
I’m not much of a fan of his being burnt out on High School Musical, but I did like what he did in this film and could potentially see him growing into a better-rounded career.
17 Again is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1). Special features are presented in high definition unless noted. They include the 12-minute “Zac goes Back” which profiles Efron. The 3 minute “Going Back to 17” has the cast reflect on their teens.
The 3 minute “Breakin’ Character” is a series of outtakes. The 2 minute “Zac’s Dance Flashback” has the character performing a dance move from his 1989 “youth.” There are also 16 minutes of additional scenes presented in standard definition. The disc is also BD-Live enhanced and more special features are available online (if your Blu-ray player is capable of going online that is).
The only one available when I was writing this review was the 3-minute “Zac Attacks” about Efron and Lennon’s big fight scene (you can download it in high or standard definition).
Other features coming to BD-Live include a commentary from Efron and a featurette with improv from Hardin and Lennon, at least that’s what is previewed on the back of the box. Disc two contains a DVD of the film as well as a digital copy for your PC or portable device.
17 Again uses much of the tropes of lost-youth, age swapping films, but it does charm on the performance of Efron. His fans will certainly enjoy the film, but I saw inklings of a continuation of his career. Only time will tell if Efron will want to wish-upon-a-janitor to revisit his youth.
17 Again [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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