You know what the world really needed? A movie about a 13-year old girl who turns into 30-year old after playing a game, finds herself in a marketing-type job, gets into wacky hijinks because she doesn’t understand the adult world and probably teaches the people around her to reclaim their playfulness and pulls together a winning project at work using the freshness of looking at the world through the eyes of a child. Oh wait, we already had it.
Glimpses of the websurfing habits of a computer science professor, obsessive crafter, occasional gamer, and all around geek
Yes, we already had it. But not from a female perspective. In my opinion, things are experienced wildly differently by different genders. So I thought it was interesting to see a female take on it.
I saw both movies, and I thought they both had interesting takes.
I’m sure my reaction had nothing to do with the fact that I cannot stand Tom Hanks, yet I would gladly watch Jennifer Garner read from the phone book.
Did you see both movies?
No, I haven’t seen the Garner movie. I have an irrational hatred of Garner – I remember when Alias came out and the entire premise was that she was a graduate student who acted as a spy at night. My friends and I were all excited to *finally* have a TV show about a graduate student, and got together to watch the premier, and it was entirely unrealistic and really just plain *wrong* about the whole grad student thing. So, of course, I would never watch that show or the stupid actress who butchered the potential for a good academic show.
I do think it is an interesting point that, particularly when talking about 13-year olds, there could be some very interesting gender differences between the two movies. I also suspect that the difference between the current maturity of 13-year olds versus that of early adolescents a couple of decades ago would have a striking impact.
So, should I bother with the Garner movie, or allow my irrational irritation with her to win out?
I meant to put a “smile” after the sentence in my previous post regarding my opinion of Tom Hanks and Jennifer Garner.
No, I don’t really recommend you bother with the Garner movie. I enjoyed it, and I thought parts were interesting, but it really wasn’t a very good movie. I would be remiss to recommend you spend money renting it. If you can find it in a library and watch it for free, maybe you want to give it a chance when looking for something light…with the knowledge that you might very well give up on it part the way through.
I can understand your grudge against Jennifer Garner re: Alias. I’ve actually never seen the show, despite the presence of Ms. Garner, because I can take very little violence in my entertainment. I’m too sensitive, and I was warned it is usually violent.
So I confess I went to see “13 going on 30” (yes, I even paid to see it in the theater instead of waiting for the DVD) because it was a rare chance to see Ms. Garner in something non-violent.
Oh, there is *no* judgement here about going to see a mediocre movie because of an enthusiasm for an actor. Frankly, a non-violent movie that doesn’t *entirely* insult my intelligence and yet is light enough to watch while I pay the bills is a pretty good movie in my book nowadays :) Sounds like maybe I’ll keep my eye out for 13 Going on 30 on cable – it feels like the sort of movie that one of the basic cable channels will latch onto some day.