13 Going On 30
Sometimes, when it comes to the art of making romantic comedies, or āchick flicksā, 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 womanās body, is as naturally charming and believable as Tom Hanks was in the earlier outing. Unlike Big, the ātransferā involves not becoming adult overnight but rather āquantum leapingā 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 ābig kidā surviving in the cutthroat corporate world, but Garner is just so effervescent and charming that it doesnāt seem to matter, like when sheās at a big elite party and she livens things up by putting on Michael Jacksonās āThrillerā (a big favorite of hers as a kid in the 80s), and starts doing the zombie dance in a way thatās so dorky yet sweet that the other elites canāt help but join in (we even get to see Andy āGollumā Serkis doing the moonwalk), though itās hard to tell if the scene works because of the timelessness of Jacksonās music, or the general timelessness of the 80s in general. Indeed, anyone who grew up in the era would be delighted by the filmās soundtrack, featuring everything from Rick Springfieldās āJesseās Girlā to Talking Heads āBurning Down The Houseā to Pat Benatarās āLove Is A Battlefieldā. Having her consciousness stuck in the 80s motif would seem to appear to be the Garner characterās 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, weāre 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 materialā¦
8/10