13 Going on 30 (2004)

13 Going on 30 is one of my favorite romantic comedies. It has everything going for it. Fun music, a familiar but always entertaining premise, love and romance, an awesome villain to loathe (Judy Greer’s snobby and conniving Lucy Wyman)  and the adorable Mark Ruffalo to root for. I don’t think I even need to mention the sheer enjoyability of Jennifer Garner’s performance as time traveling Jenna Rink. It’s just so much fun to watch Jennifer in this role because it’s so obvious she had a blast doing it. C’mon, watch the Thriller dance scene and tell me she wasn’t loving that!

13 Going on 30 is clearly not the first movie to use the premise of a teenager wishing to be older and waking up in the morning to find that they are (Hi ‘Big’, I’m talking about you, here), but what it lacks in originality it makes up for with heart. You are practically on your knees in front of the screen begging for the happy ending you know you’re going to get. You fall in love with the characters and the movie rewards your affection.

13 Going on 30 might just be the perfect chick flick. Lessons are learned and true love prevails. So what if that rarely happens in real life – that’s what we have movies like this for.