Suddenly 30
Directed by Gary Winick.
With its title curiously shortened from the initial, 13 Going on 30, this rather routine comedy/romance, despite being a reworking of Tom Hanks’ Big, succeeds thanks to the charm of its star, Jennifer Garner (hereafter known as JG).
We meet Jenna, a thirteen year old girl in the late 80s. There’s the usual assortment of teen angst, like the bitchy "cool" girls, and the geeky kid (Matt) who has a crush for the-girl-next-door Jenna. In the next gruelling twenty minutes we are forced to endure every teen cliché there is, and I was often heard to mutter "hurry up and become Jennifer Garner". Eventually some neat contrivances leads Emily to exclaim "I want to be 30!", and quicker than theaudience can say "phew", she’s zapped into the body of a 30 year old version of herself (JG). What surprises her is that she is no longer the shy, nice girl from school, but the ruthless editor of "Poise" magazine, who has made many enemies, not least of which is Lucy (Judy Greer), her business rival. She has also lost contact with her girlhood love interest, Matt, whom she harshly brushed off when she was younger. Of course, he (now Mark Ruffalo) is the first person she tries to contact in order to find out what is happening to her.
Instead of a science-fiction romp, what we have here is a little morality tale, with a splashing of romantic-comedy, on making the right choices and taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. It’s a hit and miss affair due to a mediocre screenplay which often seems too focused on the subplots of business politics rather than on the, oh, small point that we have a 13 year old in a 30 year old body. I don’t mind ridiculous unexplained plots designed for thematic resonance, but this was pushing believability in places.
What makes it work is JG’s zest and spirit, occasionally making it quite funny when the script really doesn’t deserve it. She has some nice backup with Mark Ruffalo, and the utterly hilarious Andy Serkis as the magazine boss. It makes you realize how good a job they did with Gollum in Lord of the Rings, since Serkis is instantly recognizable, although here he’s much less scathing and more mockly sincere.
But Jennifer is the star. She’s a natural comedienne, and hopefully we shall be seeing much more of her on the big screen when she leaves television (Alias) behind.
**1/2 (out of four)
Joshua Blackman
