MOVIE REVIEW '13 Going On 30' is pleasant but forgettable tweener fare
The body-swapping premise doesn't break any new ground.
By MILAN PAURICH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
"I don't want to be an original; I want to be cool!" That perceptive line of dialogue spoken by tweener Jenna Risk (Christa B. Allen) in the opening scenes of "13 Going On 30" might as well be the mantra of "30" writers, Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, and director Gary ("Tadpole") Winnick.
Being cool -- i.e., a commercial success -- is clearly more important to the makers of this only fitfully amusing film than something as pesky, and potentially unpopular, as innovation.
Like so many other recent big-screen comedies (e.g., "The Girl Next Door" which practically uses "Risky Business" as its crib sheet, or "Johnson Family Vacation" which rips off everything but the laughs from Chevy Chase's old National Lampoon series), "13 Going On 30" feels like a relic from the Reagan era. Appropriately enough, the movie's "13" scenes even take place in 1987.
Back in the late 1980's, body-swapping flicks like "30" were all the rage. Fathers and sons ("Like Father Like Son," "Vice Versa") and even granddads and grandkids ("18 Again") got in on the "Freaky Friday" action. Of course, the champion of all '80s body-swapping romps was Penny Marshall's "Big," which featured Tom Hanks as a 12-year-old boy who magically transforms into a 30-year-old man overnight. If "Girl Next Door" felt like a smudged carbon copy of Tom Cruise's breakthrough hit, "13 Going On 30" is just as indebted to "Big" for its, uh, creative inspiration.
The plot
When smart, nerdy Jenna blurts out, "I want to be 30 -- 30 and flirty and thriving!," it isn't long before this suburban New Jersey wallflower awakens to discover that she's been granted her wish. Now living in a luxury Manhattan co-op, 30-year-old Jenna (Jennifer Garner) is a glamorous magazine editor complete with a New York Ranger boyfriend (Samuel Ball), a secretary (Marcia DeBonnis) who's terrified of her, and a best friend (Judy Greer) who used to be her junior high nemesis.
What Jenna has the hardest time getting a grip on -- perks of her fast-lane job like riding in limos and attending trendy cocktail parties on "school nights" are just a blast -- is the realization that her dearest childhood friend, Matt (Sean Arquette as a boy; Mark Ruffalo as an adult), is no longer a part of her life.
Besides ingratiating herself back into Matt's life -- the fact that he's engaged doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent to either one of them -- this innocent 13-year-old teaches her manipulative, career-driven older self the true meaning of life, and the real measure of success. In the script's cleverest touch which guarantees "13 Going On 30" both a happy ending and box-office glory, she even reclaims her childhood crush. Who said you can't have it all?
Pleasant fare
For a movie that's less than spring-time fresh, this contemporary fable still manages to be a pleasant, if forgettable diversion. Although Garner slightly overdoes Jenna's wide-eyed gushiness at times, it's tough not to root for her. Garner, whose best previous screen outing was opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in "Catch Me If You Can" where she played the high-priced hooker, has the charm and spunkiness of a future romantic comedy superstar. As puppy-dog Matt, Ruffalo proves that he can cut it in mainstream outings as well as his usual edgy indie fare ("You Can Count on Me," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"). Better watch your back, Ben Affleck.