SuperHeroBooks - 13 Going on 30 (Fun & Flirty Edition)
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List Price: $14.94
Our Price: $3.40
Your Save: $ 11.54 ( 77% )
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Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Andy Serkis, Kathy Baker
Directed By: Gary Winick
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Sony
EAN: 0043396134119
Format: AC-3
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 99
Release Date: 2006-02-07
Running Time: 98
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 2004-04-23
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: 13 Going on 30
Comment: Jennifer Garner is a luminous actress with true screen presence, but in "13 Going on 30", her charms are put to shallow use and an otherwise perfect performance is wasted due to incompetent screenwriting. Instead of illuminating the script, Garner exists merely to distract audiences away from a tired plot that sees a thirteen-year-old girl named Jenna Rink, who by magic unknown to the audience, waking up to find that seventeen years have gone by and she is now thirty, lives in an apartment on Fifth Avenue, and is an editor of a New York fashion magazine called Poise.
We see actors in body-switching formulas all the time from Tom Hanks in "Big" to Jamie Lee Curtis in the 2003 remake of "Freaky Friday", but these movies were a lot more fun than "13 Going on 30". This is not Garner's fault; there is never a moment that she is not giving it her all. She has the acting chops to equal Hanks and Curtis's work, but the script never allows her to truly shine.
Over the course of the story, there are ample opportunities to turn the spotlight towards her. Unfortunately, the plot is more concerned about the happenings at the magazine office than it is with Jenna's sudden transition into adulthood. If screenwriters Cathy Yuspa and John Goldsmith, who penned the better 2000 supernatural office comedy, "What Women Want", had seen these obvious structural errors, they would have had a far superior film on their hands.
We first meet Jenna Rink (played in the early scenes by Christa B. Allen) on the day of her thirteenth birthday. She longs to be popular, even if it means being pushed around by Lucy "Tom-Tom" Wyman, leader of the "Six Chicks", an exclusive high school clique. After Jenna becomes the subject of a mean prank at her birthday party (concocted by Lucy), she blames her only real friend Matt, an awkward kid who lives next-door and secretly has a crush on her. Before long, Jenna is hiding in her basement closet wishing to be "thirty, flirty, and thriving" and thanks to a sprinkling of magic dust, her wish is granted.
Once in her adult body, Jenna learns that she is still friends with Lucy (Judy Greer), who now works with her at Poise, but she has not spoken to Matt since the day of her thirteenth birthday. From this point on, the story keeps the undertakings at Poise in full focus and any spare time finds Jenna attempting to make amends with Matt, who is now handsome, successful, and engaged.
The absence of logic is not the problem here. I can accept the magical forces in "13 Going on 30"; it is the ensuing storyline that inspires my indifference. I am more concerned with watching Garner have fun with the Jenna Rink character than I am with the goings-on at Poise. Ultimately, the audience is only left with flickers of her brilliance, and that is the one and only reason to see the movie.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Jenna, to a waitress at a club: "Oh, wait! Make it a Pina Colada, not virgin. Do you want to see my I.D.? I totally have it."
Comment: The highlight, of course, is the exuberant "Thriller" dance number. But let's not twist this, there are many moments worth watching in 13 GOING ON 30. Above all, you're dragged along in the wake of Jennifer Garner's charm and the infectious joy with which she plays Jenna. Not that she's produced a lot of stuff on the silver screen, but 13 GOING ON 30, breezy and laugh-out-loud funny, is without a doubt my favorite Jennifer Garner flick.
It's all about wish fulfillment, and, because we've already seen Big (Extended Edition) and Freaky Friday, we already know that the inherent lesson here is that be content within yourself and also that there's no place like home. It's a given that Jenna Rink will learn this lesson in due time, but not just yet. Because that would deny us the pleasure of watching then 32-year-old Jennifer Garner go thru her silly shenanigans. So, first, whilst being doused in magic dust, thirteen-year-old Jenna, experiencing a disastrous birthday, wishes that she were "thirty and flirty and thriving." She then wakes up to find herself in a beautiful 30-year-old body. What's more, she now resides in New York City in her own posh apartment and holding down a gig as a big-time fashion magazine editor.
The movie then shows us obligatory (yet wickedly humorous) scenes of Jenna striving to act mature, and not quite getting there. I got a quick chuckle from a brief shot of Jenna scoping out "Magazine Publishing for Dummies." Plenty of fun call-backs to 1980s pop culture, to a time when people really were that into Rick Springfield and where "Everybody Wang Chung tonight" kind of meant something. Me, I barely remember Razzles, let alone that they're both a candy AND a gum.
And then, as they're wont to do, the movie gets a bit serious (but, thankfully, not too serious). We learn that the woman Jenna had become is not a nice person. We also learn that the magazine she works for is suffering an alarming decline in popularity and in sales. Tons of pressure on Jenna, regarded as a bright star in the world of haute couture periodicals. Will Jenna get her act together? Will she make amends with her estranged former best friend Mattie, played, by the way, with down-to-earth appeal by Mark Ruffalo?
It's key that Jennifer Garner is not at all afraid of looking silly and awkward here. It's key that she's a good enough actress that we come to care for her character. And it's important that Ruffalo is around to provide grounded support and that dang good romantic spark. Meanwhile, subtly duplicitous and a bit buggy-eyed, Judy Greer is pitch perfect as Jenna's current best friend. And, yes, I dare you high school graduates of the '80s to not get all nostalgic when the soundtrack kicks up. I can't believe I forgot how much I liked Billy Joel's "Vienna Waits for You." I've never really been a fan of Pat Benatar's "Love Is A Battlefield" but the movie's use of it as an anthem is pretty well done.
I've been digging Jennifer Garner since her superspy days in ALIAS, and when 13 GOING ON 30 came out, I figured this was just the stage to propel her to bigger and better things. But, for some reason, she's kept a low profile in the years following 2004, excepting all the trashy Bennifer media blitz (yet another reason to dislike Ben Affleck). Thankfully, her recent good turns in The Kingdom (Widescreen Edition) and Juno (Two-Disc Special Edition with Digital Copy) have gotten her back on track. But, while she's shown off her dramatic skills in these other roles, to me, she was still never better than when she was "thirty and flirty and thriving." A totally endearing performance.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You know you like this movie.
Comment: I have to admit it, 13 Going on 30 won me over. I know it's just a twist and apparent rip-off of Penny Marshall's classic, Big but this film is sweet and funny thanks to Jennifer Garner. I also think Mark Ruffalo is one of the best new actors to emerge in the last few years, he is so real and vulnerable, I just adore him! This film is fun for the whole family, it's charming and entertaining. Enjoy!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bravo to 13 Going on 30 Excellent.
Comment: In an age where girls are being bombarded by the culture we live in, that deems a girls worth solely on her looks. This film goes beyond that and is a positive message for girls to be who they are, not what the world wants them to be . but shows that being nice and respecting yourself , family and others is the right place to be. that's what i got from it anyway. Great film, But i think the artwork for 13 going on30 is fun but lacking i prefer the special edition artwork better. Jennifer Garner is just wonderful in the role of Jenna Rink and Mark Ruffalo does a good job as Matt. If you like this film you ought to check out.( Just Like Heaven) it is also Excellent. This Film is PG-13 For some profanity, some sexual content. This film is not for young children as the case implies , but you can choose for yourself, that's a parent's job. Oh this film is in HD so the colors just pop out at you it's great. it works on regular tv but in HD it comes alive.
Highly Recommended Film.
P.S. What's funny about the clothes in this film are that Kids of the 80's like myself included wore alot of that stuff acid jean, the works, my sister had those belts it makes me laugh. Micheal Jackson was a big thing so was Madonna and Prince, Journey , The Cars, OMD, Depeche Mode, Human League , Huey Lewis And the News, Midnight Oil and The list goes on.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Really good! Funny and meaningful...
Comment: At first, I was sceptical about this movie, because it started like a story about little kids
(13 year-olds). But then one of the girls (Jenna) suddenly became a grown-up 30 year old woman.
Then the movie became meaningful, because it depicts a job situation in a magazine,
so I could somewhat relate to it.
In her life as a grown-up, Jenna is a magazine editor in Poise magazine.
She struggles in this unfamiliar situation and still behaves like a little girl.
For example, in a bar she picks up a little boy instead of a man who is at her age.
She keeps wanting to play children's games...
But then she meets a former school boyfriend and things become more normal.
I really like this movie. It is funny, relaxing, it gives you the chance to have a look
at the business world in New York. It is something like the "Working girl" movie,
if you have seen it - it's about competition between companies, etc.
And the women are so beautiful. There is a blond magazine editor - so lovely,
I couldn't take my eyes off her.
Better yet, I listened to the movie by using headphones, so I could really
appreciate the strereo sound of the soundtrack songs.
All in all, watching this movie was time well spent for me.
P.S. There was a really pleasant dancing imitation of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Jennifer Garner (Daredevil, TV's "Alias") and Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) star in this hilarious flash-forward romance about a pre-teen girl who goes from geek to glamorous. With the help of some magic wishing dust, 13 year-old Jenna Rink (Garner) becomes 30 and gorgeous overnight, with everything she ever wanted, except for her best friend Matt (Ruffalo). Now, this grown woman must create some magic of her own to help the little girl inside find the true love she left behind.
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