Review
13 GOING ON 30
Starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo
Directed by Gary Winick
Opens Friday, April 23
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When the best thing about a movie is that you share a birthday with the protagonist, you know the film is in trouble. The little-kid-in-a-big-body comedy 13 Going On 30 is just another piece of confused mediocrity from Hollywood’s derivative factory. This time it’s the Tom Hanks "classic" Big that’s getting the redux and man, did they blow it.
It’s 1987 and Jenna Rink is 13. What she wants, more than anything, is to be part of her school’s cool clique – Six Chicks. (Of course, if she joined then they’d have to change their name to the Seven Chicks, unless she killed one of the weak ones to get in. Now that would be a movie I’d pay to see, sort of Heathers for tweens.)
You know the rest. Jenna makes a wish and presto – she’s 30, flirty and hot. Of course she still thinks her 13th birthday was yesterday.
Watching the film I couldn’t help but wonder, who is this movie aimed at? Is it 30-year-olds who want that piece of ’80s nostalgia or 13-year-old girls who want to know what its like to be 30? It’s too saccharine and dumb for the increasingly mature younger demographic and far too self aware in its need to please for adults. As a result 13 Going On 30 finds a nice safe place where it casually unfolds, occasionally extorting a chortle, due solely to the unwavering commitment from its terrific cast.
I watched with grim fascination as Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo barreled through this train wreck with solid performances. As the older Jenna, Garner – physically, mentally and emotionally – embodies the little girl within so well that every time the script gives her lemons, she not only makes lemonade but sherbet and meringue pie as well. Ruffalo is saddled here with the thankless role of Jenna’s enabler-best friend Matt. His understated performance is actually layered with dimension. While Jenna is figuring out how to act 30, we see Matt’s cynical veneer slowly melt as he tries to return to the state of child-like innocence. As a character study, it’s fascinating to watch talented actors shine in a movie that’s doing its best to keep them stagnant.
Too bad playing it safe isn’t fun to watch. Mediocrity just isn’t good enough. This new trend of remakes and rip-offs can work (The Girl Next Door) but for that to happen, the film has to at least take a couple of chances. When it’s just the cast who does it and not the screenplay, the result is a boring, embarrassing film. |
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