After seeing this movie, no'mo, I don't blame her.
I, believe it or not, actually found this movie to be very enjoyable, all things considered. The things I was considering were that (A) I had to watch it, and (B) I try to go into BuDaChick-picks with an open mind once the play button is pressed. I usually would rather not see any of the movies she picks, but that's part of the whole thing man, you've got to compromise.
So what is not to like about this movie? I am completely unfamiliar with Zac Efron's work. I had no clue what to expect. I assumed the worst. Matthew Perry. He's made a pretty sweet career for himself, and I can't really think of anything I dislike him in. Thomas Lennon. Easily the funniest person on Reno 911, and he shares a name with a good buddy of mine, what's not to love? Judd Apatow's wife, she's funny AND attractive. Jan Levinson minus the Gould. Love me some Office!
The plot of the movie is that this character isn't happy with his life and he wishes he could be 17 again. I'm quarter of a century old, and I wish I could be 17 again, so yeah, I can kind of relate. Anyhoo, the character goes through a reverse-Big scenario where the rest of the world around him doesn't change, but he does, and it is up to him to have his life-changing revelation to continue to move on. Pretty standard and predictable.
Zac Efron was actually very enjoyable as the main character, and I found that I didn't hate him nearly as much as I had inherently wanted to. For me, Thomas Lennon stole the show. His "Peacocking" scene, is hilarious, and the final few seconds of it had me almost pissing my pants. Matthew Perry was enjoyable, for the 10 minutes of film he was in it.
Michelle Trachtenberg plays Perry/Efron's daughter and that's where things get a little creepy-weird for me. The character Mike O'Donnell is "17 Again" to help himself, his wife and his children. He helps his daughter get over this douche, but in the process has his daughter crawling and growling like a tiger in an attempt to seduce him. Creepy. Uber-creepy. Also, this happened and then was never resolved. After a predictable ending, you never see the resulting relationship between Mike and his children. What a place to leave an unresolved story, some kind of weird Oedipus Rex-like sexual tension between daughter and 17-again-father. Yeesh.
This movie gets 2-1/2 BuDa's out of 5. It was far more enjoyable than I thought it would be, but overall the plot is a little weak. Mike O'Donnell disappears in favor of Mark Gold for about two weeks, and no one notices or cares except his wife because she wants to divorce him and he didn't show for a hearing. Then after he's done being "17 Again" what is he supposed to say to his children, "Guess what kids, I was Mark Gold, so I'm actually not a shitty father. I've actually been pretty awesome to you the past two weeks. I mean Maggie, you wanted to bang me." Cheap jokes that were entertaining, and some weird story lines. Thomas Lennon - hilarious!
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