Caffeinated Clint
By Clint Morris
I recently discovered – via a fanatical ”X-Files” fan – that some people like to make their own clip compilations of their favourite shows and movies. What they do is they cut and paste their favourite moments from say, ”Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” or the aforementioned ”X-Files”, onto a DVD so that they no longer have to fast-forward through all the, er, boring bits to get to that scene they love so much. I guess it’s the DVD equivalent of the old mixed-tape we used to all make for ourselves in the 80s – ya know, all the good songs, without the fillers?
Zac Efron’s new film ”17 Again” is a bit like one of those home-made clip-combo movies. Its as if the filmmakers have merely edited the good bits from other similarly-themed movies (take your pick – ”Big”, ”Like Father Like Son”, ”Freaky Friday”, ”Vice Versa”, ”Suddenly 30”) together to fill in 90 minutes. There’s nothing here you haven’t seen before and if your mum hasn’t recently taken you Bra-shopping, chances are it’ll appeal to you about as much as, well, one of those faux video clips that you find on YouTube featuring footage from ”Twilight” with LeAnne Rimes music playing over the top. Like an airport baggage terminal, it’ll either be your bag – or it won’t be.
In a nutshell: Matthew Perry plays a discontented newly-separated ad-man who gets a chance to live his life over again. Enter Efron as Perry at 17.
The strangest thing about ”17 Again” is the rather wishy-washy performance by singing/dancing Zac Efron. The pint-sized ”High School Musical” star is supposed to be this drop-dead-gorgeous, hard-to-resist, cooler-than-cool guy and yet… he sings, dances and carries on like a gay gymnast at a leotard convention. Do girls really drop at the feet of guys that are dressed top-to-toe in leather, like to dance with the cheerleaders before each basketball game, and have time to talk to you about your relationship problems? I very much doubt it. OK, so it was a hard pill to swallow when Patrick Dempsey’s Ronald Miller suddenly become ‘sheik’, and everyone’s woman’s dream, in ”Can’t Buy Me Love” (1987) – but this capsule’s so big it’ll get stuck down your throat.
Having said that, and despite the fantastical elements of the film, it’s still entertaining – and not once will you check your watch. The plot moves along snappily, the performances are lively (regardless of whether you think he’s all that, Efron does do a good job; his scenes with Leslie Mann are particularly good), it’s got a good soundtrack (seemingly made up mostly of new artists), and despite having seen the film’s gimmick played out a bunch of times before (It may even be more ”Mr Destiny” – the James Belushi/Linda Hamilton flick about a guy who gets a chance to do-over his life – than Big, though it definitely uses the Hanks’ movie as a springboard) still encompasses a little bit of a magic.
