Three Things That May Prevent You From Self-Harm Should You Be Subjected To 17 Again

Hello there, folks. This is Dave from Victim of the Time, and apparently I'm supposed to be writing things here. If you're one of the five people who read my blog, you'll know I tend... not to write things. Not very often anyway. So, you know, this is an odd experience for me.

Your widest new release there across the pond (I'm British, by the way, so it you see any 'u's popping up in places you don't expect it's because I'm here to tell you the right way to spell things) this weekend is 17 Again, starring that Disney personage commonly known as Zac Efron. I'm sure usually on this blog this would be dismissed with a paltry paragraph somewhere or other, but because I am the 'yoof' (youth) in this establishment I've decided to act my age for once and talk about movies I'm supposed to like. Also, by some weird circumstance, 17 Again was released here last week, while State of Play (your other main option) isn't released until next week, so basically you'll just have to learn to deal.

If you're going to be seeing 17 Again this weekend, I'd guess it's for one of two reasons. Reason one: you love, worship and lust after Zac Efron, and whatever anyone says you will be seeing this film and you couldn't give a crap about what the film itself is actually like. To those people, I recommend getting something to gag yourselves with during the 'leather jacket' scene, just in case people think that mice have invaded the theatre. But otherwise, you can move on, because I'm not talking to you.

Reason two: you have a friend/partner/child who loves, worships and lusts after Zac Efron and you're being roped into seeing it with them, even though the mere thought of Zac Efron makes your skin crawl. You may be crazy (yes, I'll admit to having the tiniest of crushes on the boy man), but have no fear! Here are three things that will make the painful experience just about bearable.

1. Zac Efron Leslie Mann. Look at Miss Mann's filmography and its tininess is quite surprising. This can probably be put down to her larger-than-life appearances in some of her husband Judd Apatow's school-of-comedy films, most notably Knocked Up, in which she was Paul Rudd's long-suffering wife. In 17 Again, she is Matthew Perry's long-suffering wife. However, since Perry is the man who reverts to being Efron, Mann gets quite a bit of possibly-illegal lusting to do. She doesn't get a lot of the comedy- which is quite thin on the ground in any case- but her natural warmth and charisma as an increasingly confused woman is the most enjoyable part of the film, and should stop you from clawing your own eyes out.

Leslie Mann and Nicole Sullivan in 17 Again

2. Nicole Sullivan. This is potentially a point of debatable validity because she's hardly in the film at all (as Mann's best friend), but Sullivan- mostly a TV actress, who I recognised from Scrubs- has a wonderfully biting presence and will be shot in the arm you might be needing as Efron starts preaching about the wonders of abstinence.

3. A geeky subplot. I said the comedy was few and far between, but it may get to the point where you'll take whatever you can get, so the subplot concerning Perry/Efron's adult best friend Ned's pursuance of his friend's new headmistress does provide a few chuckles here and there. Although there is the possibility that Ned may make your scratching fingernails dig even deeper into your eyeballs, so perhaps feigning illness is the way to go after all.

So, basically, if you are being forced to see this, I just hope you like Leslie Mann. Good luck!