HEFE'S REVIEW OF:
17 AGAIN (2009)

OPENING THOUGHTS

    I really did not want to see this movie, not one little fucking bit. I kept seeing the advertisements all over the TV both when it was realesed in theaters, and then again when it was released on DVD, and all I could think about was how this idea is an old one being exploited for no other reason than they need an excuse to put Zac Efron in another high school movie so that teen girls and G Baby could finger themselves to sleep at night to a new film. But as fate would have it two things happened, the first was that my neice came over to spend the night and told us that she really wanted to watch this movie. The second was that unbeknowst to me, my wife had borrowed this movie from one of her friends. So once my wife told my neice that we had the movie, I really had no choice. The viewing became inevitable.

ACTING

    ZAC EFRON was so much better than I ever thought he could be in anything. As much as I hate to admit I don't think he is a terrible actor, in fact he shows enough promise that I think if he could distance himself from his Disney roots, kind of like Shia Lebeouf was able to do, that he could have a real acting career. I know, I know, I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I said that because it feels so wrong, kind of like I imagine putting a cock in my mouth would feel. I just know, like the cock, those words don't belong there. But what can I say, he had good chemistry with his co-stars, showed good emotion, and had better line delivery than 95% of actors his age. Only time will tell if I will end up regretting that statement, but fuck, now I will have to live with that the rest of my life.
    LESLIE MANN added a touch of legitacamy to this movie. By that I mean it was nice to see a familiar face who I have come to enjoy thanks to the efforts of the Judd Apatow family of films. She usually plays the same negative sarcastic, somewhat man-hating roles, but she does it believably, and I have never had any complaints, what more could you ask for? Besides big, beautiful, oily, naked breasts bouncing around on a warm summer day... and Teddy Grahams.
    THOMAS LENNON was far and away my favorite part of this film. I am a big fan of Thomas Lennon, he has a really interesting line delivery that is perfect for comedy. He has had a lot of great smaller roles in the last few years that have really tickled my funny bone, such as his turns in A Guy Thing and the recent I Love You, Man. It has always irritated me that I have never liked the show Reno 9-1-1, because I really like Lennon and would love to be able to watch him more frequently. But I digress, he had great delivery and stole every scene that he was in.

DIRECTION AND SCRIPT

    BURR STEERS directed a movie which should have felt dull and cheap (like our mom), and breathed some life into it. The movie felt young and vibrant, and acted like it didn't know it was robbing everything from It's A Wonderful Life to Big. He managed to get entertaining performances from people who I never even imagined it was possible to get them from. Considering this could have easily been a throw away teen comedy, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the results.
    JASON FILARDI wrote this movie, and what I liked about this film most was how many grown up issues this movie dealt with. Not just the issues themselves, but the way they managed to make them funny without trivializing them. As a father I could sympathize with him standing up in his daughter's sex ed class and preaching the benefits of absitninance, while at the same time encouraging his son to get a girlfriend. It is an unfair double-standard, but one which I think most dad's would understand. Like everything else in this film, it really shocked the pudding out of my stinkhole at how much this did not suck.

THE VERDICT

    Is this the best movie of the year? Of course not, what are you high? No, it is not even a great movie, but this is a movie that was so far and away better than I thought it would be that I can't help but feel a little bit awe struck. I am not sure if I was more impressed that this movie was not awful or if I really thought this was entertaining. If nothing else you should watch this movie if you are a fan of Thomas Lennon, as he really is the one responsable for this movie being funny.
 
 

THIS FILM HAS BEEN RATED

B-
 This is an above average film.
Mistakes were made, but this is still worth seeing.
TO VIEW OUR RATING SYSTEM CLICK HERE
 

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hefe@hollywoodguys.net
 


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