17 Again
New Line Cinema | Release Date: April 17, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
13
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Pleasant, harmless PG-13 entertainment, with a plot a little more surprising and acting a little better than I expected. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Though there's nothing revolutionary about 17 Again, the movie is undeniably enjoyable. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
While the movie feels shelf-worn, Efron's performance is fresh. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Director Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down) doesn't always have a firm handle on what is and isn't appropriate; the film makes a few sharp detours into misogyny, and the level of smuttiness is surprisingly high, which may be a function of Efron wanting to grow away from his core audience too fast. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Often silly but it's an honest, unselfconscious exploration of the conflict between a man's physical and psychological age. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
The ancient body-switching premise is animated by a breezy script that briefly addresses some of its darker implications. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverRoger Moore
As a remake of "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Back to the Future," the movies it borrows from most heavily, the relive-your-senior-year comedy 17 Again falls a little short of the mark. But as a funny, sweet and smart star vehicle tailored for Zac "High School Musical" Efron, it's right on the money. Read full review
63
PremiereKrista Soriano
In the scenes where Efron isn't on screen, things tend to get boring. Plus, we could've lived without having watched so many scenes where Zac is showing off his basketball skills. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
For a swoon-fest aimed at tweens, 17 Again has a lot going for it. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Though Mann and Perry are game, it's Efron who carries the movie. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Works better than you might imagine at times but stumbles awkwardly other times. The unevenness in the writing is matched by directorial overkill in certain comic sequences. Read full review
50
VarietyJustin Chang
Zac Efron's squeaky-clean tweener-bait profile is unlikely to be threatened by 17 Again, an energetic but earthbound comic fantasy that borrows a few moves, if little inspiration, from "Big" and "It's a Wonderful Life." Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Though remaining sweet and tasty, Efron, in his first non-singing and dancing feature film proves he has an agreeable and kinetic screen presence, although his ability to convince us he's truly a 37-year-old encased in a 17-year-old's body is dramatically dubious. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The movie itself is petrified meatloaf. It's a body-transference comedy in the vein of "Big," "Freaky Friday," and other candidates for Turner Classics. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The movie doesn't come close to the family-friendly comedic pseudo-incest flirted with in "Back to the Future." That, apparently, is deemed too unsettling for today's audiences. So 17 Again none-too-cleverly tap dances around these issues. Read full review
50
Washington PostDan Kois
Engaging but pedestrian comedy. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
It's often breezily entertaining. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
The director, Burr Steers, whose other credits include “Igby Goes Down” and stints directing TV shows, keeps people and things moving fast enough so that you don’t have time to worry about the details, like the inanity of the story. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
This laugh-starved twist on "Big" and the many lesser body-swapping comedies of the era is basically a lecture on sexual abstinence. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
This mix of titillation and sentimentality can pass as family entertainment because 17 Again is so weightless, a succession of one-liners, sincere monologues and logical absurdities. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The result is a slack do-over fantasy in which Zac Efron, as a basketball star, looks baffled as to why he hasn't been asked to sing and dance. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
What I can't accept is that the stringy, insipidly earnest teen idol Zac Efron would grow up to be the defensively ironic, twisty-faced Matthew Perry. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The movie's heart, of course, is with poor addled Mike and his kids, but 17 Again works only fitfully to make the Efron/Perry character worth a story. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
17 Again errs not only by covering such well-trod ground, but also by doing so through a main character - played by a game but ill-served Zac Efron - who's about as dense as they come. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Director Burr Steers, of the terrific "Igby Goes Down," is stuck polishing clichès. Read full review
25
TV Guide MagazinePerry Seibert
Never figures out what it wants to be, and ends up a jumbled mess that nobody wants. Read full review
20
Village VoiceScott Foundas
If this is one small step for the actor (Efron) toward becoming a leading man, it is, for Hollywood movies, one more giant leap into infantilism. Read full review
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