by Brooke Maxson
Have you ever been afraid that one day you might wake up and decide your life didn’t really turn out the way you would have liked it to? This is precisely what happened to someone in the new hit, 17 Again, that was released into theaters on April 17.
This movie, starring Zac Efron, is basically about a middle-aged man (Matthew Perry) who is dealing with a pending divorce with his high school sweetheart and the mother of his two children, who also aren’t the biggest fans of him. He’s decided life has gotten the best of him and is regretting his past decisions, mainly the one to drop his popular reputation and his basketball career in high school to take care of his baby he learned they were expecting. It’s right around that time he wakes up to find himself in a shower…17 years old again. This movie takes us on the laugh-out-loud journey of a man who gets the chance to live his senior year all over again, while trying to discover the reason he’s there for a second time in the first place.
From the time Mike O’ Donnel looks at himself in the mirror for the first time to find himself as a 17 year old, this movie is a hit. Although it could be said to be just another version of Freaky Friday, 13 going on 30, or Never Been Kissed, it still has surprises. An interesting thing about the movie is that when Mike O’ Donnel makes the change to 17, he’s the one who changes. His family and friends remain the same, so he must learn to live with his family around who have no idea about his change. In every movie like this one, the main character is transferred to a different time in his or her life to make a change for the better, and this movie follows that tradition. These movies may all be similar because they involve someone getting the chance to relive a certain part of their life, but they’re also different in the fact that each person is getting a second chance for a different reason. I believe a really good thing about 17Again and movies similar to it is that it winds up teaching people a lesson and making them want to change their life now, because we all know if we regret it someday there’s no just turning back magically.
So, it won’t hurt to go see this movie or rent it when it comes out on DVD. Who knows…maybe it will teach you a lesson and motivate you to make the right decisions now rather than regret them later, especially if you’re 17.
