Review of 13 Going on 30 (2004) by Rob C — 11 Sep 2011

For kids (especially girls) below the age of about 15, this'll be an adorably sweet movie. For anyone else, there'll be some gaping flaws that'll you'll feel insulted the movie has asked you to buy into.

First of all, we'll overlook the age difference leading to possible sexual charges. There are plenty of awkward scenes that, depending on whether you view Jennifer Garner as 13, 30 or both, it's borderline pedophilia. There's more to it than just that.

A couple of specific standouts include the idea for the magazine change. While it might not be one of the "creepy" moments, suggesting that a magazine change the way every fashion magazine has operated since the dawn of time is corporate suicide. Falling sales or no falling sales, the idea of making New York City models redundant will get you fired.

But the really creepy thing is that Jenna actually sabotages her best friend's life. The woman he was going to marry was hardly a bitch. Normally in these films you find out the other woman's cheating on him or only marrying him for his money or is a KGB agent or something, but you never get the sense that she's anything other than a nice person who has made Matt happy. And yet Jenna has no qualms when going back to the past to alter his life so he never meets her, keeping him all to herself.

Way to go!