“17 Again” is not a newly released movie (it came out in 2009), but in November of 2020 it was brought to Netflix. I had seen this movie before it arrived on Netflix, but a very long time ago, so I had little to no memory of it. Recently, I opened Netflix looking for something to watch and saw “17 Again” was recommended due to its new addition to Netflix. I decided to watch it again because I was curious.
What really sparked my interest were the familiar faces in the cast. Zac Efron is the main character who is well known for playing Troy Bolton in the popular High School Musical series. Another familiar face to me was Matthew Perry, who played Chandler in “Friends,” playing grown-up Mike. The principal of the school that “17 Again” took place in was played by Melora Hardin, who played Jan in “The Office.” I recognized many other characters in this movie due to their roles in other shows and movies.
The movie starts in 1989, when 17-year-old Mike O’Donnell, played by Zac Efron, is playing in a high school championship basketball game with college scouts watching. This game is important and will influence his whole future. Just moments before, his girlfriend, Scarlet, reveals to him that she is pregnant. He abandons his dream of going to college and fulfilling a successful career.
The movie then flashes to twenty years later when Mike is 37 years old (played by Matthew Perry). He is currently married to Scarlet and a father to two children, but Scarlet has filed for divorce. He is losing his wife and his children, and on top of that he did not get the job promotion he had anticipated. Everything in his life is going downhill at this point. One day he is driving during a storm and encounters a janitor on a bridge, which ends up transforming Mike back into his 17-year-old self, giving him the chance to direct him on a better path and fix everything. His goal is to now correct the mistakes of his past. Mike enrolls in high school and works towards fixing his relationship with his wife and kids, but it becomes difficult because he is in his 17-year-old body. He forms closer bonds with his children throughout the journey, which he had drifted from and eventually wins back Scarlet and heals their marriage, calling off the divorce.
The overall plot of “17 Again” is very familiar and similar to other movies such as “Big,” “13 Going on 30,” and “Freaky Friday,” which all are also based around the concept of the age swap. Therefore, “17 Again” really is not a shockingly original concept that I had never seen before. However, the movie contained occasional humor which really made me further appreciate it.
I was eager to watch it again but did not have overly high hopes ahead of time. This movie was simply just average. I enjoyed it but do not have any need to watch it again in the future.
