’13’ details teen evils, but sweetly

In theaters

“13 Going on 30,” directed by Gary Winick, written by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, 97 minutes, rated PG-13.

The new Gary Winick comedy, “13 Going on 30,” begins in 1987, with poor Jenna Rink (Christa B. Allen) trying to find herself amidst the onslaught of hormones and budding changes taking place in her body.

No easy task, for sure, and Jenna thinks she’s losing the battle, which isn’t far from the mark. She’s a sweet New Jersey girl with a bright smile and an easy laugh whose overwhelming insecurities are at the root of her problems.

Still, just try telling her that.

Jenna does have a true friend in unpopular, chunky Matt (Sean Marquette), who lives next door and secretly loves her. He’s as much a social outcast as she is, but Jenna, desperate for the sort of broad popular acceptance her friendship with Matt can’t provide, ultimately sells him out.

She wants to become the seventh member of the Six Chicks, a cruel, bitchy bunch of Heathers who look like prepubescent prostitutes yet who apparently – the way they see it – have the world by the pompoms.

When they wrong Jenna in a double cross, she inadvertently finds herself sprinkled with wishing dust (don’t ask) just as she’s wishing that she could be “30 and flirty and thriving.” Next day, Jenna is just that – a 30-year-old woman now played by Jennifer Garner who has a fantastic Manhattan apartment, a famous boyfriend, and a great job as an editor at the magazine, Poise.

What’s missing? For starters, the last 17 years of her life, which Jenna, now a teen caught in an adult’s body, must scramble to piece together. She does so with the help of the grown-up Matt (Mark Ruffalo), a photographer who has lost his baby fat, fallen into some good looks and is on the verge of getting married when this unbridled first love of his gallops back into his life.

The idea behind “13 Going on 30” is hardly new, as fans of “Big,” “Freaky Friday” and “Vice Versa” can attest. But what’s interesting about the movie is that its story mostly works in spite of its recycled formula.

Garner is a big reason for its success – she’s likable and pretty, her dorky charm just unthreatening enough to win over the film’s core audience, which is key. Ruffalo’s unflappable coolness complements the highs and lows of Jenna’s frequent mood swings. He doesn’t have the showiest role, but his presence is a necessity as he steadies the movie by saying as little as possible.

When it comes to exposing the real perils of peer pressure among teen girls, the film has nothing on last year’s “Thirteen,” a raw, harrowing drama that chronicled one girl’s plunge into the hell that can be adolescence, and it’s so goofy and sweet, it makes the upcoming “Mean Girls” look downright evil in comparison. Still, beneath the fluff, there’s a measure of insight here – and a few laughs.

Grade: B

On video and DVD

“Big Fish” Directed by Tim Burton, written by John August, 110 minutes, rated PG-13.

Tim Burton’s “Big Fish” tells the tall tale of Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), a dying salesman whose charmed life – recounted from his deathbed – proves a colorful confection of bigger-than-life stories, some legitimately lived, others overtly embellished, most drifting somewhere in between.

Its opening moments are a lark of human propulsion. They find Edward reminiscing about his own spectacular birth, which found him literally rocketing from his mother’s womb and hurtling down a hospital corridor on his back.

Later, itching to get out of the small pond of his Alabama backwater and experience the bigger riches of the world, Edward (played in his youth by Ewan McGregor) is greeted by new friends and adventures – the likes of which make for grand storytelling.

The core of the film is centered around Edward’s shaky relationship with his son, Will (Billy Crudup), a bitter journalist with no humor or imagination who resents his scene-stealing father for creating a life that’s essentially a lie.

For most, Edward’s tales are harmless fun. But for Will, who hates his father’s grandstanding, they’ve created a tug of war between them that centers on the necessity of telling the truth versus the necessity of telling stories.

Predictably, Burton favors the latter, with his movie branching off in a dozen different directions to make his point.

“Big Fish” is perhaps best enjoyed in its parts rather than in its whole; it might be too episodic for its own good. Still, it’s consistently watchable, with fine performances from Finney, Lane and McGregor, lush cinematography from Philippe Rousselot, and a score from Burton’s longtime collaborator, Danny Elfman, that’s just as mystical as Dennis Gassner’s production design.

Grade: B

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 Bangor and WCSH 6 Portland, and are archived on RottenTomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.