Review of 13 Going on 30 (2004) by Harry W — 05 May 2014

Although Suddenly 30 did not sound like my ideal kind of film since it seemed like a very female oriented concept directed towards the tweeny female audience, I am a fan of Jennifer Garner and decided to give it a chance to see how she handled herself in a comedy.

Suddenly 30 deals with very familiar themes. It deals with that phase in life around age 13 when somebody really wants to be a lot older. During that period of age, teenagers think that the independence of adult lifestyle and the way that they can have their own control over everything without dealing with unfair authority of the older crowd. But also, Suddenly 30 keeps the film within the limitations of the audience that it is directed at, the young teenage female crowd. And it shows because the story is a very girly fair about a woman waking up in the body of a beautiful thirty year old woman, living her dream of working for a fashion company. The story follows the predictable path of the stereotypical teenage girl comedy genre and the path of age related comedies.

Suddenly 30 is very similar to the funnier and more successful Academy Award nominated 1988 comedy Big about a boy who wakes up and finds himself a lot older, although he still lives in his own time. Big was not a gender specific film since it was simply focused on the adult theme and not its male protagonist as he deals with his man troubles but simply with age related issues. Suddenly 30 is too focused on the formulaic girly plot dynamics to truly soar, and it goes through the same kind of material as every high school girl comedy film where the protagonist gets her dream of fame and fortune before turning around and realising that this is not the person she wanted to be and the fact that what she wanted was there all along. So Suddenly 30 is a predictable film throughout, and even though it may have some touching elements which remind audiences to think about things more clearly when dealing with age based problems and the issues that they as children or their children may face, it is still a generic comedy that cannot transcend its path.

Suddenly 30 is clearly not a film marketed towards me, and I don't know what kind of trouble girls face as they transition from being young through the teenage years, so it doesn't have the same meaning to me. And it doesn't have the same kind of natural appeal either because as well as being predictable, I didn't find Suddenly 30 to be all that funny. Although its natural energy was nice and the fact that it did have the best intentions made it a more meaningful effort than the more formulaic and generic girly comedies that it draws influence from, it still doesn't break free from the roots of its formula. Its script is ok and has its moments, but overall it isnt too impressive and it doesn't really have enough jokes that would make viewers laugh on a consistent basis. It is sporadically funny, but in the way that a person looks at the film and thinks "that's funny" without actually laughing about it. So Suddenly 30 is not a film that I found myself laughing at all that much.

And lastly, although the film runs for 97 minutes, its lack of successful humour has it wearing thin fairly fast and it feels as if things move along slowly until the end. Although the pace isn't such a problem, the ending is because it ends very abruptly and tries to summarise everything fairly fast while rushing through the kind of revelation that protagonist Jenna Rink goes through. Things just aren't rapped up as well as they should be, and although the film doesn't have too much to cover at the end, it still doesn't give itself an appropriately timed finale.

The one thing that does tie Suddenly 30 together the whole time is the skill of lead actress Jennifer Garner.

Jennifer Garner is clearly a very intelligent and beautiful woman and a smart actress. So to see her taking on a role that is so strange where she plays a 13 year old girl trapped in the body of a 30 years old is just refreshing. It is an innovative character for a comedy and is usually reserved for no-name celebrities on the rise, but considering that Jennifer Garner is already a high profile actress for her lead role on the TV series Alias and her role as Elektra in Daredevil, it is terrific to see her branching out into comedic material. While the material in Suddenly 30 is flawed, Jennifer Garner's performance is not because it shows her versatile skills as an actress and her ability to step into a childish role really easily. Like I said, she is a smart woman. But she plays her character with the intelligence of a 13 year old and the same kind of awkward demeanour that a girl like her really has. Following the fine performance of the young Christa B. Allen in the same role, Jennifer Garner captures the exact same kind of childish awkwardness and silliness without problem. Jennifer Garner is really funny, charming and lovable in Suddenly 30 and it gives a good name to the film. Although the movie itself isn't great, Jennifer Garner's performance is and it makes the film memorable as well as more likely of a recommendation than the more generic comedies of the genre. Jennifer Garner is perfect for the lead role in Suddenly 30.

Mark Ruffalo gives a really friendly performance in Suddenly 30 as well and he shares a great chemistry with Jennifer Garner. It is good to see him working in such restrained material early on in his career considering the later success he would reach as the Academy Award nominated actor from The Kids Are All Right and Bruce Banner in The Avengers.

Judy Greer also gives a decent supporting performance.

But despite a talented cast lead by the magnificent and lovable comic work of Jennifer Garner, Suddenly 30 is too formulaic and predictable to overcome its lack of laughs and the limitations of it as a film marketed at its certain group to satisfy too many people.