Zac
Efron’s Past Imperfect
By
Bruce Collier
April
30, 2009 Issue
A high school senior throws away a basketball scholarship and
the promise of a brilliant career to marry his pregnant girlfriend.
Years later, in a dead-end job and on the brink of a divorce,
he makes an offhand wish that sends him back to school for a cosmic
do-over.
This is the
Capra-esque premise of Burr Steers’ 17 Again, starring
Zac Efron and Matthew Perry as Mike O’Donnell, then and
now. I saw the film without having seen so much as an online trailer,
and was expecting it to be a chore. I was pleasantly surprised.
Not only was the script funny, it was intelligently funny, and
the characterizations were believable and appealing. Steers got
the best from his actors—not only the two stars, but a supporting
cast including Melora Hardin, Thomas Lennon, Leslie Mann, and
some talented younger actors.
Honors go to Perry,
who sets up the character and the stakes, then hands off to Efron,
who does a deft job of playing a 30-something guy operating in
a 17-year-old body. When young-again Mike speaks to his son and
daughter (now classmates at his old school) and his wife (who
finds his resemblance to her husband unsettling) he sounds eerily
like Matthew Perry, but without doing a Matthew Perry imitation.
Among the highlights are a sex-ed classroom scene in which a scandalized
Mike tries to persuade his fellow students to try abstinence instead
of condoms. When young Mike gets into an argument with his daughter
at a party and she stalks off, his “Don’t you walk
away from me!” is pure indignant dad. Lecturing a trio of
promiscuous cheerleaders on self-respect, Mike throws up his hands,
muttering, “This is some other father’s problem.”
Lennon and
Hardin get almost as many laughs, as Mike’s nerd-turned-millionaire
buddy and his sexy high school principal, stumbling awkwardly
toward romance via a shared passion for Lord of the Rings. This
film is rated PG-13, but I’d call 17 Again a family
comedy. It isn’t in the same league as Groundhog Day,
which stands alone, but it’s in the same ballpark.
IN
THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE
In the thriller State of Play, Russell Crowe plays a
dinosaur…well, at least he plays a dying breed—an
investigative reporter working for a large daily newspaper. Brad
Pitt was originally cast in this role, and he could certainly
have delivered a solid performance. But his pretty boy good looks
could never capture the resignation that Crowe conveys as a seasoned
Washington Globe reporter who knows he’s about to be replaced
by younger, less expensive writers happy to produce shallow entertaining
diversions rather than hard news. Like all newspapers, the Globe
is seeing profits dwindle as readership and ad sales do the same.
They opt for young, hip online reporters like Della Frye (Rachel
McAdams) who can churn out content and blogs while never leaving
the building.
Cal McAffrey (Crowe)
and Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) went to the same college, sharing
an apartment and a girlfriend (Robyn Wright Penn) who is now Mrs.
Collins. Collins is now a congressman in charge of investigating
a huge military contractor. When a woman who worked for him is
murdered, it quickly comes to light that she was his mistress.
McAffrey tries to help him survive the onslaught of media attention
much to the chagrin of his Washington Globe editor (finely played
by Helen Mirren). Jeff Daniels plays a sleazy politico with his
usual nonchalance. Jason Bateman, Harry Lennix and Michael Beresse
turn in good performances, but their roles are limited to only
a few scenes.
State
of Play is an absorbing story with many twists and turns.
Director Kevin Macdonald does a good job for the most part, but
the film is dialog heavy and seems to drag a bit in the middle.
Visually, it brings to mind classic newspaper movies like All
the Presidents Men and Front Page. It’s a little sad to
watch the presses roll for a “Special Edition”. You
have to wonder how much longer it will be before that once thrilling
phrase will be just a memory.
State
of Play takes an unflinching look at what can happen when
powerful politicians become so corrupted that their moral compasses
go haywire. Anyone who gets in the way can easily become collateral
damage in the war to see who can make the most money.
It’s good, old-fashioned political thriller that feels like
a seven-course meal in a sea of fast food.
- Lisa Worsham
DVD
OF THE FORTNIGHT
As Randy “The Ram” Robinson, Mickey Rourke gives the
performance of his career in The Wrestler, one that is
both physically and emotionally demanding. The Ram dominated pro
wrestling in the ‘80s, but now his trailer is padlocked
because the rent’s past due. Following a heart attack, he’s
forced to take a job behind a deli counter—dealing with
a senior citizen’s demands for German potato salad strikes
me as much scarier than stepping into the ring with staple gun-wielding
“Necro Butcher.”
There’s
excellent supporting work here from Marisa Tomei as an aging stripper/would-be
love interest, Evan Rachel Wood as the Ram’s estranged daughter,
and comedian Todd Barry as a sarcastic supermarket manager. Director
Darren Aronofsky finds the right balance between heartache and
humor—the firefighter groupie is priceless—and the
flashy style that served his Requiem for a Dream so well
(and made Pi so unendurable) is largely absent here. The movie
isn’t really “about” wrestling, but the grappling
scenes are well staged and bloody. The DVD includes the video
for Bruce Springsteen’s excellent title song, which perfectly
sums up the protagonist’s struggle in four minutes or less.
- Christopher Manson
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