17 Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I don't know why everyone keeps referring to 17 -- the Zac Efron movie in which a 40-year-old guy is suddenly a teen again -- as Big in reverse. Or, as The Hollywood Reporter writes today: "turns the concept of Big on its head." I guess nobody remembers the George Burns-becomes-Charlie Schlatter comedy 18 Again! Either that or it's simply easier to reference Big because it's a million times more well-known. Anyway, there's another movie 17 will make people think of: Back to the Future. Apparently, Efron's character (aka Matthew Perry's character as a teen) becomes the object of a crush -- from his own daughter! Playing the poor girl, who obviously doesn't realize her own Electra complex, is Michelle Trachtenberg. Also joining the cast, which includes Leslie Mann as Efron/Perry's wife and Trachtenberg's mom, is Melora Hardin ("Jan" on TV's The Office) as a high school principal.

So here's what I find strange about the new plot revelation: how is it the daughter doesn't recognize her own father as a young man? Hasn't everyone seen photos of their parents from when they were younger? At least with Back to the Future, in Lea Thompson's defense she hadn't yet birthed Michael J. Fox, and she had no way of ever having seen his face before he traveled back in time and became the object of her desires. In both scenarios, it is pretty gross to think about seriously. According to the main plot synopsis for 17, the reason Efron/Perry enrolls in high school is to be closer to his kids (hey, another movie this reminds me of: Mrs. Doubtfire). I guess he truly gets his wish in a terribly sick sort of way. Production on 17 begins this month.

Those rough mornings when the sleep is still in Zac Efron's eyes, when he has to get up early, wash up, and then spend the day at work singing and dancing -- do you think that he imagines himself growing up into Matthew Perry? Not to knock Mr. Perry. He had his own share of teen work. He was the teen paramour in an episode of Just the Ten of Us, and he took a Monkeys daughter to the prom in She's Out of Control. But he was never a teen heartthrob, wallpapering the bedroom walls of young girls all over the country. Nevertheless, The Hollywood Reporter has posted that he'll play the adult Zac Efron in the upcoming Big-like comedy, 17.

As you might remember from our previous coverage of the film, the whole thing focuses on a middle-aged guy (Perry) who wakes up one day and discovers that he's 17 again. Not 17 in mind, but 17 in body -- Zac Efron's body, to be exact. As THR describes: "In order to be close to his children, he enrolls in the same school as them." You can imagine how that'll work. I wonder if he'll then go to a dance and start busting out the dance moves of the '80s. That could be sweet. What I don't get is how he knows exactly what age he is. If that happened to me, I wouldn't know if I was 16, 17, or 18. Can you spot your 17-year-old face from the years that surround it? Maybe going back in physical time also allows one to inherently know how old they are. However it works, production begins next month, so we'll have more Efron in no time.

She's 35 and he's 20, but in this film he's 17 ... and she's his wife? Before you Zac Efron fans go a little nuts with this news, you should know that I'm talking about his new film 17, which is like a reversal of the Tom Hanks film Big in that Efron's character was an adult (who was in his thirties and married to Leslie Mann), but then because of (insert crucial plot point here), he becomes 17 again and must somehow navigate his way through the war zone that is high school. The Hollywood Reporter tells us Mann, who recently played wife to Paul Rudd in Knocked Up, will star opposite Efron in the New Line teen comedy.

Jason Filardi (Bringing Down the House) wrote the script and Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down) will direct, while Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot produce. I'm not sure how exactly they'll handle this one -- will the 17-year-old kid be able to convince his wife that he's, well, her husband? And if so, will they ... do stuff? And since Efron's adult self is married, does that mean we won't see a teen romance blossom and then fall apart once it's time for him to go back to being old? Will he go back to being old? Part of what made Big so touching and emotional was when he had to say goodbye to this older, adult romance in order to transform back into a kid again. Granted, teen romances aren't as -- how shall I say -- poignant, but I'll be curious to see how they go about it. Is he running away from a struggling marriage? Will being 17 again help revive the relationship, and bring a little more energy into the equation. And will Efron break out into song at some point? These are the questions we need answered people! I guess we'll have to wait until 17 arrives in theaters at some point next year.

Since I'm well over the age of 18, you can probably understand why I'm not all that familiar with the work of Zac Efron. With only a passing familiarity with High School Musical and my refusal to sit through the Hairspray update (since they weren't bringing Pia "I play my bongos, listen to Odetta, and then I iron my hair" Zadora back), most of the time I'm just looking at the heartthrob wondering why he has chosen to revive Gwyneth Paltrow's haircut circa Sliding Doors. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Burr Steers (writer/director of Igby Goes Down) has just signed to direct the teen comedy 17 starring Efron. Written by Jason Filardi, the story centers on an adult man who suddenly finds himself to be 17 again and having to navigate the social mine field that is high school -- think of it as Mean Girls meets Big. Considering Steers' somewhat acidic take on young adulthood, it might help cut through the fairly cutesy premise of 17.

New Line snapped up the original pitch for the film back in February, and last June, Erik had given us the news that Efron had signed for the lead. The addition of a director must mean that the project is on its way to production. Efron has been recently linked to a remake of the 1984 classic, Footloose -- but as a musical! -- and our own Monika Bartyzel totally adores the idea. We kid. Of course, there is still the small matter of High School Musical 3 -- although, if you've been keeping on top of the gossip lately, you probably know that HSM producers might be facing a delay of in order to look for a new squeaky clean female lead.