I thought this was going to be a teen or pre-teen flick, but judging from the sexual innuendos, it was really intended to be teen/adult entertainment.  It's a lightweight farce and it doesn't hold up well under close scrutiny, but the storyline does provide some things for us to think about.

            The tale begins when a 13-year-old girl, enamored with a 'girls' magazine called Poise, wishes she were 30 like the women photographed in the magazine.  Sprinkle a little magic powder and the 'what if' scenario becomes a dream storyline reality.

            A young brain in an adult body has been the subject of several screenplays, for example, Big (1988), with Tom Hanks.  It's an interesting challenge for the actor and if done poorly could ruin a good story.  In this film, Jennifer Garner plays the adult Jenna Rink and her wide-eyed, chaotic, energetic portrayal of a 13-year-old mind in and adult body works.  In fact, I thought Garner did this part of the role quite well.  However, the transition into a successful high-powered New York magazine editor was problematic.  In her defense, there was not time allowed for this huge change to be in the screenplay, so it was a quick, problem-free merger of selves - not really possible, but necessary.

            More interesting, were the lessons about life values that were buried in the plot.  These are revealed as Jenna's reaction to the recent history of the 30-year-old person she has now become.  We realize that there are really three Jennas: the 13-year-old, the 13-year-old in the 30-year-old body and the 30-year-old before the infused young mind.  This latter Jenna exists only as a residual effect, but her character is key to the story and much of the comedy.  Alternate existence is an ingenious way to demonstrate consequences and these consequences then become the underlying serious part of the story.  The same theme was used in the classic, It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

            As the dream storyline progresses, Jenna's new 30-year-old career embroils her in a crisis that leads to a betrayal.  The ethical breech of loyalty creates a problem that is not resolved in the storyline.  This lack of closure is left dangling and it left me feeling the story was incomplete.  It was only a subplot, so it may have been the victim of an editor's decision.

            Jenna's child friend, the geeky Matt Flamhaff appears as an adult played by Mark Ruffalo.  Ruffalo is excellent in the role of an art photographer who remains loyal to commitments regardless of his attraction to the new Jenna; another lesson on life values.  At one point, Ruffalo joins Jenna in a dance scene to Michael Jackson's Thriller.  Ruffalo is not a dancer and in the special feature interviews, he states that he had trouble learning the steps.  It's particularly impressive since we know he underwent brain surgery for a benign tumor and was left partially paralyzed.  He had to relearn to speak.  It's amazing he could dance.

            Reviewed December 26, 2004

            MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and brief drug references.