13 Going On 30
Sometimes, when it comes to the art of making romantic comedies, or âchick flicksâ, the number one ingredient that can bring it all together is charm. Perfect casting helps too, in this reverse-gender version of Big, as Jennifer Garner who, despite her ultra-serious trademark roles in Alias and Electra, comes off in most real-life interviews as a lovably ditsy air-headed free spirit, and now cast as a 13 year old girl in a grown womanâs body, is as naturally charming and believable as Tom Hanks was in the earlier outing. Unlike Big, the âtransferâ involves not becoming adult overnight but rather âquantum leapingâ into the future where she has fulfilled her childhood dream of working for a top fashion magazine. Complications arise, when the sweet little girl inside starts to discover just what a shallow, morally bankrupt rotten bitch she had turned into in the intervening years, as now her younger self must take control and adjust things just right. This involves reconnecting with her long-lost, once-pudgy childhood friend (Mark Ruffalo, playing it down to earth and doing a fine job), and reconciling the fact that her best friend is the bitchy Heathers-like clique member who used to make her life miserable (Judy Greer). There are some of the usual plot holes that tripped up Big when it comes to a âbig kidâ surviving in the cutthroat corporate world, but Garner is just so effervescent and charming that it doesnât seem to matter, like when sheâs at a big elite party and she livens things up by putting on Michael Jacksonâs âThrillerâ (a big favorite of hers as a kid in the 80s), and starts doing the zombie dance in a way thatâs so dorky yet sweet that the other elites canât help but join in (we even get to see Andy âGollumâ Serkis doing the moonwalk), though itâs hard to tell if the scene works because of the timelessness of Jacksonâs music, or the general timelessness of the 80s in general. Indeed, anyone who grew up in the era would be delighted by the filmâs soundtrack, featuring everything from Rick Springfieldâs âJesseâs Girlâ to Talking Heads âBurning Down The Houseâ to Pat Benatarâs âLove Is A Battlefieldâ. Having her consciousness stuck in the 80s motif would seem to appear to be the Garner characterâs redeeming quality here, as she maintains an innocent little-girl outlook on just about everything (including, thankfully, sex). Ultimately, those values become torn asunder as hey, weâre not as innocent now as we were in the 80s, but things still come together for an emotional, happy ending. Overall, proof positive that Garner has great potential as an actress if she can just stick with the right materialâŚ
8/10