Review of 17 Again (2009) by Chads — 17 Apr 2009

The name of the high school is Hayden. Mike O'Donnell(Zac Efron) went there, circa 1989. That was the year Hayden Panettiere was born. That was also the year Nirvana recorded its debut album "Bleach" for Sub Pop.

The target audience reads Hayden one way, while an older demographic group, especially those who love music, may read the name of the high school as a morose Neil Young-like Canadian singer-songwriter, who records confessional songs on his own label called Hardwood.

Mike was a basketball star, and hardwood just happens to be the playing surface of most indoor basketball courts. Now let's talk about Mike. In David Seltzer's "Lucas", Charlie Sheen plays Cappie, the jock who protects the titular bespectacled insect collector from bullies.

Similar to Cappie, the point guard had befriended Ned, the waterboy, a nerd, as Lucas was(Mike also befriends his nerd son). The same goes for Hayden, in all likelihood. Incidentally, Ned's last name is Gold(Thomas Lennon).

Neil Young's best-loved song just happens to be "Heart of Gold". Meanwhile, the closest that Hayden got to mainstream acceptance was the college radio hit "Girl of my Dreams"(from his major label debut "Everything I Long For"), and in "17 Again", the nerd tycoon meets the girl of his dreams to hillarious effect.

"17 Again", it must be said, is funny: arguably, even more so than the much hipper "Adventureland"(the M.C. Hammer dance tops "Rock me Amadeus" for time capsule honors, anyday).

But it's unchallenging and predictable; "17 Again" breaks no new ground with this shopworn premise. For instance, when Mike's daughter gets amorous with the parental fresh-faced oldster, naturally, he rebuffs her advances.

Interestingly enough, though, the daughter's name is Maggie(Michelle Trachtenberg), the same as Kerri Green's character from "Lucas". She and Cappie were an item. Since Mike is Cappie-like, a humble big man on campus, a referential subtext of lust for his daughter is able to fly under the radar.