13 Going On 30 Review
by Karina Montgomery (karina AT cinerina DOT com)May 11th, 2004
13 Going on 30
Matinee and Snacks
You know by the bouncy "Head over Heels" theme that this will be a movie that makes you grin, but who would have thought you might also have not one but two good cries during it as well! All the XY chromosomes out there are shriveling up at the thought of it, and I don't blame them, but hear me out. You've seen the preview, which mostly makes the movie look like a distaff Big; a girl in a woman's body loose on the town with a credit card and a slammin' body. However, the real plot owes more to Sliding Doors and It's A Wonderful Life than to that Tom Hanks transformation classic. And the preview does not credit the 13 year-old version of Jenna Rink (Christa B. Allen) with the strength of her performance.
The characters are well-drawn, and the young/old casting is superb. Young Jenna and her best friend Matt (Jack Salvatore, Jr.) have to handle most of the character exposition, since grown up Jenna (Jennifer Garner) awakens in her own adulthood with no memory of the life that brought her to that point. She cannot tell us herself who her character is, since she does not know either. As a result, any caring you feel for these grown up people and specifically Jenna, rests on Allen and Salvatore's slender shoulders. It's a risky bit of writing that is well paid by their performances.
The theme is not so much "keep your youthful outlook" (though it clearly is the road to a more joyful life) as "make good choices." Some people learn from experience - adult Jenna, bereft of any memory of what got her to this 30 year old self's life and position, must listen to her gut and run on pure intuition. And relying on the innocent id of her only remembered self (at age 13), free of any super-ego, frees her to make the right choices. What, did you think she would start a nuclear war?
Judy Greer is great as the adult colleague and best friend of Jenna, offering tantalizing clues to her and us about Jenna's current persona. Jenna's whole adult character is built solely, snippet by snippet, on other characters' endowing her. Then Garner herself shines as a sweet, ebullient, underdog of a 13 year old reveling in her new life.
Best friend Matt grows up to be sweet artistic type Mark Ruffalo, and he's not a love interest and he's not a foil to show her character's nature, he is a touchstone and a wonderful character, and the source of the best movie cry I have had in ages. The first cry of the film may have had an assist by Billy Joel, but the second one is a really good one. Gents, show your sensitivity and bring your lady friends. If you're lucky, she'll say Matt reminds her of you. Let's not forget Andy "Gollum" Serkis as boss Richard - his dry British snarkiness is a lovely balance to Garner's all-American girl charm and Greer's Manhattan edge.
Most rewarding of all was seeing a gaggle of tweens exiting the theatre with the same satisfied giggles and smiles as myself and my 30-something companion. We had a moment, the seven of us, and it was good. It's a fluffy movie with a surprising number of rewarding layers, if you are willing to give it a chance.
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These reviews (c) 2004 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks. You can check out previous reviews at:
http://www.cinerina.com and http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com - the Online Film Critics Society http://www.hsbr.net/reviews/karina/listing.hsbr - Hollywood Stock Exchange Brokerage Resource
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
