17 Again

Before I begin, I would like to remind everyone that this movie was a wild success in regards to the box office numbers. The estimated cost of this film fell somewhere between $20-30 million and took in a worldwide gross of an estimated $130 million. Phenomenal.

First and foremost, one must give major props for the originality of this screenplay. A grown man named Mike O’Donnell (Matthew Perry), who has been beaten down by life, transforms into the 17-year-old version of himself (Zac Efron) and reconnects with his wife and children. Move over Charlie Kaufman, there is a new writing powerhouse in town.

Aside from the overall storyline, here are some more original gems that caught my attention.

1) A grown man who had “nerdy” tendencies meets his counterpart who happens to be surprisingly attractive and is also a fellow nerd.
2) During a party scene, the high school students are being unreasonably loud. Shortly thereafter, the owner of the home arrives with his date (the principal). She proceeds to yell and you’ll never guess it, the music suddenly stops and everyone at the party looks at the principal and leaves. I’ve never seen this type of a scene happen in a movie before. Ever.
3) The high school daughter of the main character is attracted to the high school version of the father and tries to kiss him. Hilarity ensues.
4) The primary antagonist is a bully/jock that happens to dress like a scene kid (who inexplicably listens to Limp Bizkit). He also happens to be a royal prick to the son of Mike O’Donnell (Matthew Berry’s character) for no apparent reason. An antagonist with no motive? I love it.
5) When the nerd character and the principal go out on a date, the principal says in elf language, “Your lair or mine?” and then he says, “Check, please.” Get it? He’s so excited about the prospect of having sex that he doesn’t even care to finish his meal. It’s so clever.

Despite these amazingly original ideas, this daring film did have its fair share of logical oversights. Such oversights that could have been easily remedied had the writers/director simply applied some common sense or talked to someone that did.

The opening sequence takes place in 1989 with a young Mike O’Donnell (played by Zac Efron) taking some practice shots before a rather important basketball game. His coach informs that a scout from Cal (and later in the 2009 game, Ohio State University) would be at the game and a full ride scholarship could be on the horizon. This is where the 1st list of logical inconsistencies becomes apparent.

1) Zac Efron’s height is approximately 5’8” (and I refuse to believe otherwise) and is white.
2) He displayed no sign of inordinate athleticism.
3) Both Cal and Ohio State have basketball programs that compete for an NCAA tourney bid nearly every year. They also have produced productive NBA players.
4) Said universities would never waste a full ride scholarship on a 5’8” white kid that doesn’t appear to be extraordinary at basketball.

Before the game begins, Zac Efron engages with the cheerleaders in a dance sequence that is barely plausible as well as thoroughly embarrassing. During the dance, the camera pans the crowd and more inconsistencies come to the forefront. This scene takes place in 1989, but if one were to make a casual observation of the people in the stands it become very apparent that people from costume and make-up failed to do their jobs. The students and parents in the stands are dressed way too modern to be attending a game in 1989.

Being a straight male, I possess a working knowledge of how the game of basketball works. Unfortunately, no such person existed within the production team of this movie. There were a total of 3 basketball game sequences in this film and 2 of them were entirely implausible.

The 1st basketball sequence took place in 1989 after a young Mike O’Donnell danced it up with the cheerleaders. During a timeout, Mike’s girlfriend (Scarlet) informed him that she was pregnant and Mike became understandably shaken by this news. During the ensuing possession for Mike’s team, he looked over at her while dribbling the basketball over a DOZEN times without once paying attention to the person responsible for guarding him. He became overwhelmed by his emotions and walked off the court to console his girlfriend. The basketball was left bouncing where he once stood and continued to bounce 5 times before the opposing team grabbed it and took it in for a lay up. This would never happen. Watch any game of basketball (high school to NBA) and pay attention to the loose ball scenarios. The ball will maybe bounce twice before someone grabs it.

The 2nd basketball sequence took place when Matthew Berry’s character had been transformed into the high school version of himself and had his own son as a teammate. This sequence was equally absurd. The opposing team was up by 6 points with 37 seconds left to play and possession of the ball. In the particular scenario, the coach of the team with possession would be running a play often referred to as 4 Corners and attempt to run out the clock. However, the team was seen running a set play and the point guard passed the ball when he wasn’t being pressured to do so. Hence, the miraculous and improbable comeback began. In the real basketball world, THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN.

Another basketball related sequence that required more attention involved Mike O’Donnell’s son states that he is practicing 3 point shooting. However, some camera shots clearly reveal that he is no further than 12 feet away from the hoop. The high school 3-point line is approximately 20 feet away from the hoop.

Although the basketball sequences were shockingly unbelievable, even more improbabilities/impossibilities surfaced throughout the film. I gave a pass to the whole mythological aspect of the story but there are several other parts in the movie that were not particularly well thought out.

Before the Mike O’Donnell becomes “17 Again,” several things are revealed about his character and life that require better explanations.

1) The adult version of Mike O’Donnell exists in the year 2009
2) His oldest daughter is a senior in high school
3) Therefore, his daughter is likely between the ages of 17-18
4) However, he and the mother of the child were seniors in high school in 1989.
5) They found out about her pregnancy during their senior year.
6) Thus, the child should be between the ages of 19-20.
7) Oops.

Here are some more peculiar facts about the financial improbabilities about his adult life.

1) He resides relatively close to Westwood College in California, which is located near LA or Orange County.
2) Based on the high school demographic and clothing the students wear, it is fair to assume that the area is rather affluent.
3) If his children are attending this school, property values in the nearby area are probably mildly inflated.
4) Based on the above information and house itself, his home is probably worth anywhere between $400,000 and $800,000.
5) It is also revealed that he didn’t attend college.
6) So the question that begs itself is this: How does a person with a high school diploma and a child to support at the age of 18 afford such a lovely home?

The aforementioned inquiry I suppose is answered by the fact that he works at Wyatt Pharmaceuticals. It’s a little unbelievable. But if I were to give this a pass, I would have to examine his workplace more closely.

1) Based on his house’s value and the implication that his wife doesn’t work, he probably needs to make at least $70,000 a year to keep up on the mortgage payments.
2) However, his workplace is filled with inordinately attractive female co-workers that are between the ages of 21-31. (I wish workplaces like this existed outside of Hooters or Vegas nightclubs)
3) His direct superior appears to be 24-26 years of age.
4) So in what world are inordinately attractive people between the ages of 21 and 31 (working in the same place) making $70,000 a year on salary?

After Mike O’Donnell turns “17 Again,” he attends his old high school and the “attention to detail” department took another vacation.

1) The high school is located in southern California
2) Almost all high schools are outdoors in the aforementioned area.
3) His high school was an indoor high school.
4) There were chalkboards in the classroom
5) Based on the affluent student population, the classrooms would at least have whiteboards and dry erase markers.
6) Mike’s daughter is making out with her boyfriend (the antagonist) during class. Any self-respecting teacher would never let this happen.
7) This kissing scene takes place in a health class full of seniors, but in almost all districts in southern California, health class is taken freshman year.

I feel I could go on forever, but I will end with this. When Mike O’Donnell goes back to high school, some girls are checking him out and the following quote is delivered.

“If that boy were an apple, he’d be a delicious.”

…excellent.