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Craig Younkin
Movie Review
13 Going On 30
By Craig Younkin Published April 21, 2004
US Release: April 23, 2004
Directed by: Gary Winick
Starring: Jennifer Garner , Mark Ruffalo , Shana Dowdeswell , Jack Salvatore Jr.
PG-13
Running Time: 97 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $56,300,000
Directed by: Gary Winick
Starring: Jennifer Garner , Mark Ruffalo , Shana Dowdeswell , Jack Salvatore Jr.
PG-13
Running Time: 97 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $56,300,000
B
Garner and Ruffalo make for an appealing little diversion that shows their true star quality.
It's 1987 and Jenna Rink is your usual teenager. She will do almost anything to be a part of the in-crowd, including doing the popular girl's homework to get her to come to her thirteenth birthday party. The night of her party she stuffs tissue paper into her blouse to appear she has breasts, and mocks the uncoolness of her best friend Matty. Only her new "biatch" attitude works to no avail on the popular girls, and she ends up sitting alone in a closet wishing she were older, popular, and a success.
The next morning Jenna wakes up in 2004 and she looks like Jennifer Garner, which is something few women would freak out about, but Jenna does. In a panic, she tries to hook up with Matt (Mark Ruffalo), now a freelance photographer. He tells her that the two have lost touch since the night of her party, but agrees to help her through the crisis she is now in. Jenna finds out that she is now a hotshot magazine editor with a live-in boyfriend who plays for the New York Rangers. She is also friend's with Lucy (Judy Greer), the most popular girl from junior high. It's everything Jenna ever could have dreamed of, but she learns that there are also drawbacks to getting everything you ever wanted.
As it goes on, there isn't anything particularly new or inventive going on here. Jenna decides to turn the failing magazine into one about "real women" and hires Matt to do the photos for it. It's all very cute and the movie's message of self-respect is an admirable one, but there isn't really much to laugh at in all of this. This is a one-joke comedy, and most of the best gags have already been shown in the trailer; the rest is pretty tame stuff, like Jenna?s realization of cell phones.
Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo ultimately win you over in the end, though. With her beauty and wide eyed, big smiled innocence, Garner is a comic gem and Ruffalo comes off as sweet and endearing. I also enjoyed Judy Greer's performance as the back stabbing Lucy; the role is a change of pace for her that she works with very well.
"13 Going on 30" is never as funny or as fresh as Penny Marshall's "Big," but the cast fill out their roles very well and Garner and Ruffalo make for an appealing little diversion that shows their true star quality.
The next morning Jenna wakes up in 2004 and she looks like Jennifer Garner, which is something few women would freak out about, but Jenna does. In a panic, she tries to hook up with Matt (Mark Ruffalo), now a freelance photographer. He tells her that the two have lost touch since the night of her party, but agrees to help her through the crisis she is now in. Jenna finds out that she is now a hotshot magazine editor with a live-in boyfriend who plays for the New York Rangers. She is also friend's with Lucy (Judy Greer), the most popular girl from junior high. It's everything Jenna ever could have dreamed of, but she learns that there are also drawbacks to getting everything you ever wanted.
As it goes on, there isn't anything particularly new or inventive going on here. Jenna decides to turn the failing magazine into one about "real women" and hires Matt to do the photos for it. It's all very cute and the movie's message of self-respect is an admirable one, but there isn't really much to laugh at in all of this. This is a one-joke comedy, and most of the best gags have already been shown in the trailer; the rest is pretty tame stuff, like Jenna?s realization of cell phones.
Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo ultimately win you over in the end, though. With her beauty and wide eyed, big smiled innocence, Garner is a comic gem and Ruffalo comes off as sweet and endearing. I also enjoyed Judy Greer's performance as the back stabbing Lucy; the role is a change of pace for her that she works with very well.
"13 Going on 30" is never as funny or as fresh as Penny Marshall's "Big," but the cast fill out their roles very well and Garner and Ruffalo make for an appealing little diversion that shows their true star quality.
Craig's Grade: B
Craig's Overall Grading: 340 graded movies
| A | 10.9% | |
| B | 41.8% | |
| C | 31.8% | |
| D | 15.3% | |
| F | 0.3% |
'13 Going On 30' Articles
- Friday Box Office Analysis (4/23)
April 24, 2004 -- Lee Tistaert
