By Erum Rizvi
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“17 Again” is a great comedy to watch and will have viewers laughing at the awkward, yet hilarious turn the plot takes. Zac Efron, who plays the main character, is known for his squeaky clean role in the hit Disney movie “High School Musical.” As such, moviegoers may expect a pre-teen-aimed story. To my surprise, this movie did not target the expected younger age group.

In the film, Efron plays Mike, a high school basketball player who has everything going for him until he blows his big game because of his girlfriend’s unplanned pregnancy. Twenty bittersweet years later, Mike has turned into a pessimistic 37-year-old played by Matthew Perry. Since high school, he has gotten married to his girlfriend Scarlet played by Leslie Mann and has become estranged from her as well as his children.  Then the world intervenes, in the form of Brian Doyle-Murray as a magical janitor who turns Mike into a teenager again.

Mike (now played as Efron again) is a dork on the inside as he has learned from his past mistakes and chooses to live his life differently. Now, Mike has the chance to infiltrate his kids’ classes as a teen himself.  He gets to know his socially awkward son Alex (Sterling Knight) and sullen daughter Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg).  At one point, the near-middle-aged man in the body of a 17-year-old finds himself in an awkward situation with his daughter, Maggie, who grows an attraction toward her now younger father, which had everyone in the theater squirming like crazy.

This film had a slightly predictable plot at some points, yet kept my interest for the most part. The movie seems to focus on dealing with teen social pressures, but at the same time has an amusing scheme to make it lighthearted. The standard cliques are in place throughout the film with jocks and preps. At some time, it risks not just reusing and commenting on these high school positions of popularity, but emphasizing them.

The movie’s sympathy is with Mike and his kids, but “17 Again” works only to make the Efron-Perry character worth a story. I enjoyed Mann’s role as Mike’s wife who is baffled about why she has attracted her son’s charismatic friend (Efron) who continuously comes to her son’s home to help with chores. Little does she know, it is a younger version of her husband who is keeping an eye on his wife in her current older age. This part of the movie relates to the “Back to the Future” mother-son attraction which leaves the audience just as uncomfortable as in the father-daughter attraction.

In what passes for the most interesting and supporting character, Thomas Lenon plays Ned, a video game geek and billionaire who has been friends with Mike since they were in high school. Ned agrees to pose as “young” Mike’s dad and adds comedic relief at points of slight seriousness. The movie highlights how high school geeks inherit the earth with Ned’s character.

The director of “17 Again,” Burr Steers, is also known for his work as a writer in the 2003 hit “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” Although that film differs in genre from “17 Again,” both movies were great, successful works by Steers.

“17 Again” certainly reminds us that even if we could go back and try to fix past mistakes, we would likely only make things worse. Considering its focus on spending time with your kids and saving your marriage, the movie does serve as one with morals yet also is sure to pull laughs out of the audience. 

‘17 Again’

Starring:
Zac Efron, Thomas Lenon

Directed By:
Burr Steers

Rated:
PG-13

Overall:
A-