13 going on 30 (PG) Review

Overall Rating

Jennifer Garner

Chick Flick and Andy Serkis (You so can't get the picture of Gollum out of your head when he's on screen).

13 going on 30 - The film starts off in the late 80's when soon-to-be 13 year old Jenna Rink (Garner) is finding it difficult not being cool and hanging with the popular girls (The Six Chicks), Jenna is planning her 13th birthday party and agrees to do the popular girls' reports if they come to her party which they agree.

Her best friend and neighbour Matt (Mark Ruffalo) is a bit of a nerd who doesn't care what the popular people think and is only out to protect Jenna from the inevitable.

Anyway 'the six chicks' play a trick on Jenna and lock her in her closet, take their reports and leave. Jenna is distraught and in a rage shoves Matt and stays in the closet making the most sincere wish to be flirty, thirty and successful.

She awakes in a strange apartment in New York, it's 2004 and she's 30 years old, she's a successful editor for a fasion magazine and her boss (Serkis) is looking to her to save the company.

That is how the film begins and from here on out it gets better and funnier, she finds Matt and learns that she no longer is his friend and also that she became one of the popular girls, in fact, she was their leader. Jenna then discovers that her rise to the top isn't without its costs and she doesn't quite like what she has become.

If you remember the 80's films with the cringing part when everyone knew the dance (Teen wolf springs to mind) well, this film takes that cringeworthy scene to another level, I won't spoil it but you'll either find it funny or wish it was over.

The film asks the big question of "if we knew then what we know now, would we do anything differently?" and in this film Jenna finds out that the answer to that would be yes!

To sum up, my overall thoughts of this film was that it's one to watch with the girlfriend (After I, Robot and AVP obviously) but it was quite enjoyable and funny in parts. Jennifer Garner puts in a good performance as does Judy Greer as the bitch of a friend (a long way from the depressed nerd in What Women Want) and although you've seen this type of film before (Big, Vise Versa, Freaky Friday) it is good to a point, personally however, I'd wait till the DVD comes out.