[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "13 Going on 30". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an Official Discussion Thread.



Crawdaddy

[Vickie_M]

I'm not a review writer, but since no one else has posted here, I'll say a few things about it.

13 Going On 30 is sweet, funny and charming. I've never watched Alias, and I've only seen Jennifer Garner in Catch Me If You Can and Daredevil, so I was surprised and pleased at how good she is at comedy. She's perfect as Jenna Rink, who falls asleep at 13, and wakes up in her 30-year old self's body. She's lived her life and that life is at the natural stage it would be based on the events that happened right before she fell asleep. Besides having the fun of all the 30-year old Jenna's perks (money, great clothes), she gets to look at everything with a 13-year old's eyes, and see things in a way that the 30-year old doesn't, for good and bad.

Most importantly, she also finds out that the choices she made then has damaging consequences now, especially in regards to her relationship with Matt, her then best friend.

This is not just a chick flick. I think girls and women will love it, but it's fun and the ultimate message (choices made at a young age could affect your entire life, for good and/or bad) will resonate with boys and men too. Even without the message, which is not heavy-handed, it's a lot of fun. I saw it on a free pass, but I plan to pay to see it again.

[Patrick Sun]

I think it was cute film that needed a little more bite to it. I wouldn't see it again, though, just not enough to revisit, but a matinee viewing would be okay if you're a fan of Garner and Ruffalo. I think I was the only one in the theater that got that the lines that Jenna spouted on love were from a song from the 1980's to school girls, who thought her proclamations to be "deep".

I give it 2.5 stars or a grade of C+.

[Robert James Clark]

I thought the movie rode on the considerable charms of it's star Jennifer Garner.

She is wonderful, charming, vulnerable and sweet. I am also a huge fan of Alias, so I was curious how Garner would carry her own movie.

It was a fine romantic comedy. Despite the frequent comparisons to "Big", I thought the film belonged more to the genre of stories pioneered by Dickens' "Christmas Carol" such as Family Man, Wonderful Life, Scrooged(naturally), and Jumanji.

The difference between "Big" and "13 Going on 30" is the emphasis on the type of person Garner had become rather than the simple paradox of a teen suddenly becoming an adult.

Big is, of course, the better film though...

[Tim Glover]

Cute film. Jennifer Garner has major screen presence and seems versatile to do either drama/action or now comedy.

out of