Zac Efron in "17 Again"
courtesy of New Line Home Entertainment
“Oh To Be 17 Again”

Did you ever wish you could be seventeen again? Well through the miracle of movies/DVD’s you can see what happens when one man gets that wish granted. It is all in the new DVD titled “17 Again.” This is another one of those movies where an older person gets young, or a younger person gets old – overnight! We’ve seen it in “13 Going On 30,” “Big” and others. Still for some bizarre reason “17 Again” entertains and finds something new in this old formula. The secret ingredient is probably Zac Efron.

Zac Efron plays Mike O’Donnell, a high school heartthrob who has a very rosy future ahead of him. He is a star on the basketball court and is being scouted by the college teams. But on one of his biggest nights he finds out his girlfriend Scarlett (Allison Miller) is pregnant. He makes a decision to marry her and give up his college basketball dreams.

Eighteen years later Mike (now played by Matthew Perry) is miserable. He and Scarlett (now played by Leslie Mann) are getting a divorce, and he is not close to either of his two children, Alex and Maggie (Sterling Knight and Michelle Trachtenberg). The only happiness he has is reflecting back on his high school career. 

One day he is at the high school and starts talking with a grizzled janitor. This leads to a magical incident whereby he does get a chance to go back to high school. He becomes seventeen again in looks but he keeps the mature mind and spirit of his older self inside him.

Watching the seventeen year old Mike relate to his now contemporary children, and also longing for his now “older woman” wife is the heart of the film. It gives it the twist it needs and makes it entertaining and emotional at the same time.

Efron is great as the teenage Mike. This film shows he can carry a movie without just being part of the supporting cast, as he was in the “High School Musicals” and “Hairspray.” He is charming, good looking, athletic and a fairly good actor. He even gets a chance to show a few dance moves.

Mann strikes just the right balance as the older Scarlett who has feelings for the teenager she meets who looks just like her husband did when he was younger. She is constantly having to clear her head to ignore the feelings her heart is providing.

Matthew Perry doesn’t get a chance to do much with the character of the older Mike. The movie belongs to Efron and Perry virtually has only a cameo in the film. He probably shot more scenes but they were removed to give more screen time to the younger Mike.

A subplot involving Mike’s friend Ned (Thomas Lennon) and his crush on the school principal Melora Hardin) adds even more fun to the show. These two are in their own little world and it works.

Zac Efron raises his movie star potential up a notch with his role in this film. Everyone in the film is good but Efron stands head and shoulders above them all. If he keeps picking satisfying roles like this one he should be a “star” for a long time.

Another comedy that delivers the goods is “Lonely Street.” Most of the laughs are delivered by Jay Mohr, a really talented comic actor, who plays a private investigator. He is hired to be a bodyguard to a reclusive Elvis Pressley (Robert Patrick). There is a tabloid reporter who has sniffed out the story and wants to expose the fact that Elvis is alive!

The problem is the reporter ends up dead and now Bubba (Mohr) has to solve the case to exonerate himself. There are a lot of ins and outs to all this and a lot of comedy while it is all being solved.

Lindsay Price, Nikki Cox, Katt Williams, Mike Starr and others add to the fun but it is Mohr who leads the laughs charge. Take a chance and watch “Lonely Street” and find yourself entertained.

Also fun is “Alien Trespass.” This sci fi spoof set in 1957 is a take off on movies like “The Blob” and “It Came From Outer Space.” Eric McCormack stars as a man possessed by a good alien who must do battle with a bad alien. There is also a local waitress (Jenni Baird) who gets involved for the good of mankind.

McCormack is the reason to watch this movie. It is silly and fun at the same time so rent it and watch. It is titled “Alien Trespass.”

Three unemployed musicians decide to open a music hall in Paris. It is 1936 so the DVD is aptly named “Paris 36.” This is a movie full of wonderful music and sweet characterizations. It is distinctly different from most of the DVD fare you have been offered of late. 

Nora Arnezeder plays Douce, the woman whose voice brings magic to the music hall. She is a bright star and a charming entertainer. For me she made the movie worthwhile. But then all the musical numbers are good and they have that thirties flavor that was seen in the Busby Berkley musicals of this period.

Another film set in Paris is “The Class.” This documentary type film concerns a high school in the inner city and the schoolteacher (Francois Begaudeau) who reaches the kids, but it is not without conflict. He is a brutally frank teacher and not all of his students appreciate this quality.

This film has been nominated for many awards and is inspiring to say the least. This is one DVD you will want to get and watch.
 

 

 

 

 

©2009 Jackie K. Cooper

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