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13 Going on 30 Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: PG-13 (for sexual content and brief drug references) Theater release: April 23, 2004 by Sony Pictures Directed by: Gary Winick Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes Cast: Jennifer Garner (Jenna Rink), Mark Ruffalo (Matt Flamhaff), Judy Greer (Lucy), Christa Allen (Young Jenna) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

It's 1987, and skinny, bookish 13-year-old Jenna Rink wants three things: To be part of the popular "Six Chicks" clique at her middle school, to be as "fabuloso" as the models she sees in Poise magazine, and to catch the eye of the cute Chris Grandy. Instead, she's doing homework for the Six Chicks so they'll come to her birthday party, she's gawky and undeveloped, and the guy in her life is the roly-poly Matty, who comes with his ever-present camera.

Jennifer Garner as Jenna Rink

When her party flops-the best gift is a dream house from Matty, who's also the best guest-Jenna kicks Matt out, closes her eyes and wishes to be "thirty and flirty and thriving." Aided by some magic wishing dust that came with Matty's gift, she wakes up the next morning to her wish. It's suddenly 17 years later, and to her delight, Jenna's got what looks like a fabulous life—with a great apartment, an attractive boyfriend and a job at Poise. But she's also become someone she doesn't recognize inside. And the damage she's done may be beyond repair.

This romantic comedy is essentially an updated version of Big (1988) and deals with themes similar to The Kid (2000), but actors Christa Allen and Jennifer Garner play gawky-turned-gorgeous Jenna so well, you almost don't care. Viewers who are used to seeing Garner play the tough girl Sydney Bristow in Alias will admire her transformation into a wide-eyed, winsome chick with the pluck to save the failing magazine and patch up her life. And there are some great moments of physical comedy, especially right after Jenna coltishly discovers her transformation. The film is also full of hilarious '80s pop-culture references to Pop Rocks candy, Casio keyboards, Fruit Roll-Ups, Lisa Frank stationery and the like. It also includes probably the cutest "Thriller" dance in recent history.

Jennifer Garner and Judy Greer

Though predictable, the film does come with a solid message: The choices we make, even those made during those painful, awkward years of junior high and high school, really do matter down the road. With the help of the now-grown, now-handsome Matt and her high-school yearbooks, Jenna concludes, "I'm not a nice person." As the movie unfolds, she realizes that 13-year-old Jenna's determination to be cool instead of original has resulted in loneliness and empty relationships for the 30-year-old. Though she enjoys occasional triumphs, she's repeatedly undercut as the chickens come home to roost. Fortunately—and I don't think this is a plot spoiler in a relatively predictable movie—she gets the chance to go back and make things right.

The other message? Image isn't everything. Jenna finds the magazine industry—the same one that influenced her adolescent dreams—to be superficial and cutthroat. She can't trust anyone in the office, and finds that they focus on characteristics that "Holly Housewife" could never attain. It's hard for her to even know whether the noses she sees in the office are real or fake. Still, people long for something more, something genuine. Jenna has a moment of glee when the wholesome yearbook-styled photos she's had Matt shoot for the magazine's upcoming redesign beat a coworker's deathly serious heroin-chic photos.

Mark Ruffalo as Matt, Jenna's love interest

Though this is probably a good overall pick, especially for older teens, it would be a bit better (and more family-friendly) without the sprinkling of low-grade, corny sexual innuendos. Grown-up Jenna lives with her boyfriend and repeatedly expresses girlish delight at her newly-developed body. She finds out that she's been sleeping with a married man. There's also an eye-roll worthy striptease when Jenna's boyfriend undresses to Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby"—a part of the '90s most of us would rather forget. Occasionally, there are some sexual references that would make my mom wince.

All in all, this is a lighthearted, warm-and-fuzzy flick for fans of romantic comedy that leaves you rooting for the triumph of its newly enlightened heroine, who was always a good girl deep inside.

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