17 Again

Growing up, the go to movies in my family were What About Bob? and Big. So you can imagine my horror when 13 Going on 30 came out. But then I learned, not only did the main character age, so did the world around her. Okay, okay. Still a stolen idea, but only partially stolen.

17 Again is a direct ploy off of Big, just instead of getting older, you get younger. Three reasons why this movie was a rip off:

1) The go-to best friend to help you find your way through the newer/older you. Josh Baskins had Billy. In this film, we have Mike and Ned. Ned's character, played by Thomas Lennon, is quite possibly the greatest character in this movie. The Star Trek ears, the one-liners, his passion for the magical word, I couldn't get enough of it.

2) When Josh Baskins makes the switch to adulthood, he buys a sweet pad and fills it with all the greatest toys and furniture (I'm getting a trampoline in my apartment once the ceilings call for it). Mike moves in with his friend Ned, who being the complete weirdo he is, has a sweet pad full of fast cars, amazing pool and collectible toys and swords laying around. This film just switches out the bunk beds ("I call top!") for a race car.

3) The creepy item/person to get you to the new you. Josh Baskins tried his luck on the Zoltar machine, which really made me fearful of any type of tarot card reading and fortune tellings. Here, Mike looks to this creepy janitor who appears and then disappears. He's like a bad version Doc from Back to the Future holding a pail and mop instead of keys to a DeLorean.
At times, I must say, I did enjoy the film. But the whole Zac Efron (who plays the younger version of Matthew Perry's character Mike) and Leslie Mann, who plays Scarlett, Mike's nearly ex wife, were too creepy to enjoy. It was worse than Mrs. Robinson since at least Mrs. Robinson was seducing a recent college graduate and not a high school senior.

As the jerk Paul said at the Christmas Party in Big:
Paul: The guy's a goddamn knock-off artist.
Man: What do you mean?
Paul: The Amphibian?! He takes 10,000 G.I. Joes, slaps some gills on them, webs their feet and packages them in seaweed.

Looks like we have another knock-off artist behind 17 Again.