A slew of coming of age teen films are making their way into local cineplexes this spring, and surprisingly, they’re all centered on the lives of teenage girls. That’s not a demographic that gets much attention generally — or when they do, their substance has a little left to be desired.
The first out of the gate in the next three weeks is “13 Going On 30,” which opens April 23. This charming, sweet comedy about second chances gives Jennifer Garner (of television’s edgy “Alias”) her first leading film role. Who knew she also had talent as a comedian?
“13 Going On 30’s” premise is one you’ll recognize (from 1988’s “Big” starring Tom Hanks), but this time it’s a teenage girl who wakes up in an adult’s body. An awkward 13 year old Jenna (played by Christa B. Allen) and her next door neighbor Matt (John Salvatore, Jr.) are the best of friends, but she desperately wants to be part of the popular crowd. Of course, they’ll have nothing to do with her, until she invites them to her birthday party. There they proceed to humiliate her with a game of “7 minutes in the closet,” promising that the popular boy she has a crush on will join her, but instead they leave her alone in the closet. As she sadly realizes she’s been duped, she makes herself a wish: that when she grows up, she will have everything she ever wanted.
Jenna then wakes up to find that it’s 17 years later and she’s been transformed into 30 year old Jennifer Garner. Except that inside, she’s still a 13 year old girl. Soon she discovers that her wish has come true: she’s a successful magazine editor living in a fabulous New York City apartment and has a handsome (to young Jenna, however, he’s “gross”) professional hockey player boyfriend. She’s now best friends with Lucy (Judy Greer) the popular girl who used to snub her in middle school. But all is not quite right in this world: she’s lost touch with Matt (Mark Ruffalo), barely speaks to her parents and her underlings at the magazine fear and loathe her. She goes in search of Matt to discover that they haven’t spoken since that day at the party — and that he’s engaged to be married.
Garner shows a knack for physical comedy here, and her wide-eyed girl-woman is convincing and touchingly funny. It’s hard to resist the exuberance Garner puts into singing and dancing along to 1980’s songs like Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield.” Garner and Ruffalo have a believable on-screen chemistry that is engaging rather than cutesy. Judy Greer is especially delicious as the duplicitous Lucy, a “friend” that we’ve all had the displeasure of knowing. Director Gary Winick (“Tadpole”) keeps a tight hold on the proceedings, managing to avoid most of the easy clichés that generally pop up in this genre.
It’s near impossible not to get swept up in this modern fairy tale, especially if you’ve ever been a 13 year old girl. Most everyone can relate to the sting of rejection by peers you think you want to be friends with. It might as well be Greek tragedy, especially when you’re an adolescent girl immersed in the drama. But “13 Going On 30” is also a smart morality play, a cautionary tale about what happens when you get exactly what you wish for. With the exception of the ending, which works if you don’t spend too much time trying to figure it out, this is something the teenage girl in your family — or inside you — should have fun with.
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