I saw surprisingly good movie last night

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I did not know what to rent at the video store, so I got "13 going on 30" with Jennifer Garner. There are a lot of lousy, corny and predictable teen movies out there, but not this one. While it would appeal to a lot of pre-teen and teenage girls, I also think this movie has a unique appeal to people my age (about 30) who can remember our 80's childhood with fondness.

Jennifer Garner's character is transplanted from a 13 year old in 1987 to a 30 year old in 2004. She suddenly discovers that she has become a fashion magazine editor, with a lot of money and connections, but she has also become estranged from her family and has generally become a rather dishonest and cold person on her way to the top. Garner has to do something that is very hard for actors to do, and that is to be a child inside of an adult's body, while she's still figuring out what kind of person she has become over the last 17 years. She pulls this off masterfully, in a performance head and shoulders above anything found in typical teen movies. I'm talking Oscar material.

The ending is somewhat predictable, with a few small twists, but it's the kind of movie that makes you appreciate what you always took for granted as a child.

P.S. Jennifer Garner is "on board": http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=CA&last=Garner&first=Jennifer

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