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by Jonathan McKee Starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo Directed by Gary Winick Jonathan's Rating: Rental The film starts in 1987 and introduces us to typical 13 year old Jenna who can’t wait to grow up. After wishing to be an adult, she awakens 17 years later, still with the mind of a 13 year old, but in a 30 year old body, Jennifer Garner’s body for that matter. As she slowly figures out what kind of person she is, who her future friends are, how she treats people as editor of “Poise” magazine . . . she doesn’t like what she has become. She seeks out her old friend Matt to try to sort everything out. But Matt is engaged to another woman. So Jenna continues to learn the responsibilities of a 30 year old in 2004, attempts to redeem some of her past (future?) mistakes, all while trying to save her magazine from getting demolished by the competition. The film pulls it off. Sure we’ve seen some of these elements before, but “13 Going On 30” has enough new material to keep it afloat. And although Jennifer Garner is no Tom Hanks, she plays the part of a 13 year old convincingly. And the 80’s references are a lot of fun. Should Kids See it? Elementry kids? No. Teenagers? Yes, but it depends on their maturity. Although there is no sex or nudity in the film, Jenna’s 30 year old life style isn’t that of Mary Poppins. She discovers that she’s been sleeping with a Texas Ranger baseball player, she apparently has had affairs with others in the office, and her wardrobe reveals a little of this lifestyle. But, the great thing about this film is that it shows the emptiness of this lifestyle- an emptiness that even a 13 year old looks at and understands. Something that apparently, the 30 year old Jenna hadn’t learned yet. I think this would be a great film to watch and discuss with certain teenagers. I’d ask them what Jenna discovered about herself that she didn’t like. Then I’d ask what choices Jenna made that probably brought her to that point. And maybe, why the 13 year old Jenna was able to decide that she didn’t want to turn out like that. The film is good fun. Check out www.screenit.com before you decide to show it to your teenagers. 
Jonathan McKee, president of The Source for Youth Ministry, is the author of numerous
youth ministry books including the brand new Connect: Real Relationships
in a World of Isolation, and the award winning books Do They
Run When They See You Coming? and Getting Students to
Show Up. He speaks and trains at camps, conferences, and
events across North America, and provides free resources for youth workers internationally on his website,
TheSource4YM.com.
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