Garner’s performance energizes stale ‘13 Going on 30’ storyline

Laurie Lo
Published: Thursday, April 22, 2004

“13 Going on 30”

Directed by Gary Winick

Columbia Pictures

There’s a thin line between cute and annoying. At best, “13 Going on 30” totters in between the two. In the tradition of such films as “Big” and “Freaky Friday,” the premise of the movie treads on much-trod ground. It is 1987 and, like most middle-schoolers, 13-year-old Jenna Rink (Christa B. Allen) finds herself in her own personal hell. The sole comfort she finds is with her unpopular and chubby best friend Matt (Jack Salvatore Jr.). But everything changes after Jenna’s 13th birthday party becomes a social disaster. Jenna wishes nothing more than to turn 30, the age at which she believes real life begins, because her favorite magazine article describes the years as “30, flirty and thriving.” Without her knowing it, Jenna conveniently gets her wish with a little help from some wishing dust. The explanation-free magic of the plot is also common of most teenage comedies. The 30-year-old Jenna (Jennifer Garner) is then forced to come to terms with what she has done with her life for the past 17 unexplained years. She finds out she has largely manipulated and cheated her way to the top, but her most disturbing revelation is her now-nonexistent relationship with Matt. There is no doubt that a movie about a teenager in a grown-up’s body has been done before, though Jennifer Garner does deserve some credit for her daring transformation from a TV-cult badass into a doe-eyed and exuberant 13-year-old. Garner plays the role convincingly enough as she shamelessly brings the colorful late-1980s into the jaded 2000s. Ultimately it is the prevalence of stale material, not Garner’s ability to play a teenager, that drags the movie down. Many of the antics Jenna must go through are all too familiar as she adjusts into her new yuppie life. Among her noted activities are shopping and bar-hopping. But the innocent romance that develops between Jenna and an older Matt (Mark Ruffalo) does have its redeeming qualities. Ruffalo’s understated charm complements Garner’s off-the-wall energy. A shock to no one, “13 Going on 30” probably will not win any Best Original Screenplay awards. But mature folks willing to check their cynicism at the door for 97 minutes will enjoy themselves. -Laurie Lo