Going into this movie, I knew that it was going to be a silly premise. Sub-40ish man in the cliché marital difficulty and not relating well to his children, falling into a time warp and discovering that he has gone back 20 years is very silly, and to some degree, writes itself.
However for all intents and purposes, it is really hard not to come out of this movie with a smile on your face...even if you're a 30-something man.
Zac Efron stars as Mike, a high school basketball stud who is being checked out by a scout, is happily in love, and even stands up for the little guy. Nevermind that his little friend Ned looks more like he should be in elementary school...I think we all know that nice, popular guy in school that everyone loves.
Well Mike is in for a shock as his girlfriend Scarlett tells him she's pregnant, and in a flash, his hopes for a basketball scholarship goes out the window.
Fast forward 20 years, and Mike (now played by Matthew Perry) is a newly separated man living with his childhood friend Ned, who has cashed in on the cliché that small nerds make wealthy adults. Of course Ned is ever the nerd: his home is more like a shrine to George Lucas and JRR Tolkien, but that's besides the point.
Mike, forced increasingly to face the loss of his family, and finding his career and friends wanting, longs for the days when he was a star high school basketball player. It always helps when an old janitor who, in different attire could pass for Santa Claus, is there to overhear and grant the wish to be 17 again in a rainstorm on a bridge.
Falling off the bridge, something that would kill most people I suppose, Perry becomes Efron once again, and Ned fills in to provide more comic relief as the father of "Mark," Mike in disguise, looking to reconnect with his teen kids while he himself is a teen.
It is at this point that Efron really shines. After the initial hiccup of using K-Fed as an example of hip fashion, he settles in as a handsome, athletic teen who learns that "his children" have missed out on the benefits of a positive male role model, and are struggling with their place in the high school hierarchy.
Whether it's taking "his son" Alex under his wing and helping him both join the basketball team and land his first girlfriend (which isn't so much a peculiar site...after all, best friends are often there like that for one another), or trying to help his daughter Maggie see the anchor that is her boyfriend, or recover after he breaks up with her (which leads to one of the most awkward, and also one of the funniest moments of the movie) are both touching and hilarious!
Indeed, when it comes time for Mark/Mike to return to the present, we are almost sad to see the teenage Mike disappear once and for all! Of course, the movie is not without major flaws...however if you look past those, this movie is full of touching moments, and full of funny moments as well.
Certainly more than enough to make it worth a watch! :-)
However for all intents and purposes, it is really hard not to come out of this movie with a smile on your face...even if you're a 30-something man.
Zac Efron stars as Mike, a high school basketball stud who is being checked out by a scout, is happily in love, and even stands up for the little guy. Nevermind that his little friend Ned looks more like he should be in elementary school...I think we all know that nice, popular guy in school that everyone loves.
Well Mike is in for a shock as his girlfriend Scarlett tells him she's pregnant, and in a flash, his hopes for a basketball scholarship goes out the window.
Fast forward 20 years, and Mike (now played by Matthew Perry) is a newly separated man living with his childhood friend Ned, who has cashed in on the cliché that small nerds make wealthy adults. Of course Ned is ever the nerd: his home is more like a shrine to George Lucas and JRR Tolkien, but that's besides the point.
Mike, forced increasingly to face the loss of his family, and finding his career and friends wanting, longs for the days when he was a star high school basketball player. It always helps when an old janitor who, in different attire could pass for Santa Claus, is there to overhear and grant the wish to be 17 again in a rainstorm on a bridge.
Falling off the bridge, something that would kill most people I suppose, Perry becomes Efron once again, and Ned fills in to provide more comic relief as the father of "Mark," Mike in disguise, looking to reconnect with his teen kids while he himself is a teen.
It is at this point that Efron really shines. After the initial hiccup of using K-Fed as an example of hip fashion, he settles in as a handsome, athletic teen who learns that "his children" have missed out on the benefits of a positive male role model, and are struggling with their place in the high school hierarchy.
Whether it's taking "his son" Alex under his wing and helping him both join the basketball team and land his first girlfriend (which isn't so much a peculiar site...after all, best friends are often there like that for one another), or trying to help his daughter Maggie see the anchor that is her boyfriend, or recover after he breaks up with her (which leads to one of the most awkward, and also one of the funniest moments of the movie) are both touching and hilarious!
Indeed, when it comes time for Mark/Mike to return to the present, we are almost sad to see the teenage Mike disappear once and for all! Of course, the movie is not without major flaws...however if you look past those, this movie is full of touching moments, and full of funny moments as well.
Certainly more than enough to make it worth a watch! :-)