13 Going on 30

Jennifer Garner positively shines in this comedy about a 'tweenager who makes a careless wish for adulthood and suddenly wakes up 17 years later in the va-va-voom body and chaotic career-girl life of herself at age 29. Yes, it's basically Big with boobs (a physical attribute that has the pubescent-on-the-inside girl just tickled pink)--and its similarly fueled by the irresistible exuberance of its star's inner child as she discovers a hunky towel-clad fella in her apartment ("eewww!"), learns that she's grown up to be an editor at her favorite fashion magazine, and realizes that the job and her shallow, backstabbing adult self are not all she'd hoped for. While the plot isn't particularly creative, the picture's wit is sparkling and perfectly fit to Garner's talents as a comedienne: whether she's chomping on chewy Fruit Roll-Ups wrapped around her finger during an editorial meeting, trying to reconnect with the best friend (Mark Ruffalo) she doesn't know she'd abandoned in high school, or visiting her parents and crawling into bed with them for midnight comfort, the actress never has a false moment of thirteendom. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentaries (one by director Gary Winick; the other by producers Donna Arkoff Roth, Susan Arnold, and Gina Matthews), 18 deleted scenes (including montages), the 19-minute production featurette “Making of a Teen Dream,” eight minutes of “I Was a Teenage Geek” cast revelations and photos, three minutes of bloopers, “The ‘80s Outfit Challenge” virtual closet memory game, a “Then and Now” matching game, two music videos (“Love is a Battlefield” by Pat Benatar, and “Jessie's Girl” by Rick Springfield), a two-minute slideshow-style gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a sweet extras package for a sweet little comedy.] (R. Blackwelder)[DVD Review—Feb. 21, 2006—Sony, 98 min., PG-13, $19.95—Making its second appearance on DVD, 2004's 13 Going on 30 (Fun & Flirty Edition) features the original solid transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. DVD extras on this edition (though Sony dropped both audio commentaries and three of the deleted scenes from the previous release) include only the addition of an alternate beginning and ending (12 min. total) and a 1980s “Fashion Flashback” featurette (7 min.). Bottom line: if you own the original release, you don't need this one.][Blu-ray Review—Feb. 3, 2009—Sony, 98 min., PG-13, $28.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2004's 13 Going on 30 sports a good transfer with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras are almost identical to those on the standard DVD release, including audio commentaries (one by director Gary Winick; the other by producers Donna Arkoff Roth, Susan Arnold, and Gina Matthews), 18 deleted scenes (including montages), the 19-minute production featurette “Making of a Teen Dream,” an alternate beginning and ending (12 min. total), eight minutes of “I Was a Teenage Geek” cast revelations and photos, a 1980s “Fashion Flashback” featurette (7 min.), three minutes of bloopers, two music videos (“Love is a Battlefield” by Pat Benatar, and “Jessie's Girl” by Rick Springfield), a two-minute slideshow-style gallery, and trailers. New to the Blu-ray release is the “Making of a Teen Dream: Another Take” featurette (8 min.) and the BD Live function, while two DVD games are missing. Bottom line: a charming comedy, this is recommended for larger Blu-ray collections.]