17 Again: Critic Reviews

A slack do-over fantasy in which Zac Efron, as a basketball star, looks baffled as to why he hasn't been asked to sing and dance.

Keeps people and things moving fast enough so that you don't have time to worry about the details, like the inanity of the story.

Though not as clever as 13 Going on 30 or Freaky Friday, it's also not as hokey as Hannah. For a swoon-fest aimed at tweens, 17 Again has a lot going for it.

Efron has no edge. And although that edgelessness might prolong his career, it keeps 17 Again from having anything surprising to say about teenage life in 2009.

17 Again is product, loaded with high fructose corn syrup so the girls will like it, and as meaningful as an afternoon at the mall.

If this is one small step for the actor toward becoming a leading man, it is, for Hollywood movies, one more giant leap into infantilism.

Though Mann and Perry are game, it's Efron who carries the movie.

I found him a sympathetic, and strangely believable, middle-aged dad.

If you're looking for the performance that might one day be characterized as Efron's embarrassing breakout role, this is a good bet.

Even with actors who echoed each other's mannerisms, 17 Again would still be lame.

17 Again is pleasant, harmless PG-13 entertainment, with a plot a little more surprising and acting a little better than I expected.

Zac Efron, looking cool, is movie enough for the makers of 17 Again, a halfhearted fantasy that stars Efron in a role cryogenically frozen around the time of C. Thomas Howell's '80s heyday.

The ancient body-switching premise is animated by a breezy script that briefly addresses some of its darker implications before returning to a celebration of adolescence.

For me, 17 Again is mildly diverting. For the tweens who are its target audience, Efron's outside shot is a three-pointer.

You needn't be a Zac Efron fan to enjoy the appealing 17 Again.

It could be better, it could be worse.

The kid may not be the next Sean Penn, but he is definitely a movie star.

An energetic but earthbound comic fantasy that borrows a few moves, if little inspiration, from Big and It's a Wonderful Life.

17 Again makes the '80s comedies on which it's modeled seem positively cutting-edge by comparison.

17 Again is a comically responsible way for Efron to leave his teen roles behind and make his teen audience think about the adult decisions they now face.

17 Again makes Xeroxes look original.

Wholesome just isn't as wholesome as it used to be.

17 Again takes a while to get cooking, and at times it just feels like a pale imitation of 13 Going on 30. Still, it's often breezily entertaining, partly thanks to Efron, who certainly knows how to be cute.

The filmmakers don't give their viewers credit for a minimum level of observation and, as a result, have produced a sloppy, lazy motion picture.