| 91 |
Entertainment Weekly
The rare commercial comedy that leaves you entranced by what can happen only in the movies.
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| 88 |
Premiere
Nearly perfect in its own cotton-candy way.
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| 75 |
Portland Oregonian
M. E. Russell
A charming, funny piece of wish-fulfillment for young girls -- and, if you're much older than that, a disturbing critique of modern male sexuality.
|
| 75 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The lanky action star of the cult television series "Alias" is assigned a tired playbook in this film, but she finds room to manoeuvre in a performance that exceeds expectations.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
The possibilities of Jenna's confusion are exploited for full comic effect. Garner, who turns out to be a charming, abandoned comedian, makes Jenna's incredulousness and innocence very funny and occasionally even touching.
|
| 75 |
ReelViews
Solidly entertaining.
|
| 75 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
While 13 Going on 30 is too formulaic to sustain the delicacy of emotion that gave "Big" its appeal, it has tour-de-farce moments that made screenwriters Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa's "What Women Want" such a monster hit.
|
| 75 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Garner's vulnerable, winning performance strikes emotional chords (not to mention nostalgia) in this fantasy comedy.
|
| 75 |
USA Today
Amusing, charming and pleasantly nostalgic.
|
| 75 |
New York Daily News
An unexpected pleasure, a buoyant comedy that will make you feel young again.
|
| 70 |
Wall Street Journal
Isn't the best romantic comedy one might wish for, but it's more than good enough.
|
| 70 |
The Hollywood Reporter
Does a good job of reviving stale material. Thanks to a snappy script by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa and an effervescent performance by Jennifer Garner, this romantic comedy has a buoyant personality.
|
| 70 |
Variety
A star vehicle composed of second-hand parts that nevertheless gets great mileage (and big laughs) from its recycled plot.
|
| 70 |
Washington Post
Sara Gebhardt
A film whose far-fetched foundation is overshadowed by the endearing story.
|
| 70 |
Washington Post
If "13 Going on 30" isn't exactly original, it's still reasonably cool.
|
| 63 |
Charlotte Observer
Garner bounces around gleefully as the young spirit enveloped by this adult body. She's young enough herself to remember what it was like to be that age, and she has the vulnerability, zest and slightly over-the-top reactions of a seventh-grader.
|
| 63 |
New York Post
The filmmakers have an pleasurably accurate sense of the embarrassments that darken early adolescence and of the amazing cruelty of teenage girls.
|
| 63 |
Baltimore Sun
The best thing about 13 Going on 30 is that an ever-game Jennifer Garner is cheerfully convincing as a 13-year-old in a 30-year-old body. The worst thing is the feeling we've seen this movie before, done better.
|
| 63 |
Boston Globe
It's looking for comedy and romance in the obvious places.
|
| 63 |
Miami Herald
Garner may be a study in butt-kicking intensity on TV's Alias, but here, she's an engaging comic performer who more than carries her share of what is essentially an unoriginal, mostly average film.
|
| 60 |
TV Guide
Director Gary Winick serves up enough giddy fun that it's easy to turn a blind eye to the film's skewed sense of time and minor anachronisms.
|
| 60 |
Empire
If there's a criticism to be made, it's that the script doesn't push itself far enough with the moments in which it excels.
|
| 60 |
Salon.com
I was so charmed by the opening scenes of 13 Going on 30, and so entertained by the middle portion of it, that I had high hopes for its ending -- hopes that were cruelly dashed. Like a petulant 13-year-old, I'm still pouting over my disappointment.
|
| 50 |
Los Angeles Times
The plot hinges on Jenna's horrified realization that her adult self is a witch, but 13 Going On 30 -- works foremost as a vehicle for its rising star.
|
| 50 |
The New York Times
The performances give the movie more flavor and life than the situation does; it often feels like prechewed Bubble Yum.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Reader
Andrea Gronvall
Retreads a well-worn premise (Freaky Friday, Big) but the formula works, thanks in large part to star Jennifer Garner, who's so radiant theaters should be stocking sunblock.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Sun-Times
Jennifer Garner is indeed a charmer, but she's the victim of a charmless treatment in 13 Going on 30.
|
| 50 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Cheers and many happy returns to Garner as she makes her first starring film role. She's the real deal. But jeers to every other aspect of 13 Going On 30.
|
| 50 |
Village Voice
Jorge Morales
Anyway, the thirtysomething in me was all, gag me with a spoon, but the kid in me was like, this movie's rad to the max.
|
| 50 |
LA Weekly
The director of 13 Going on 30, Gary Winick, was unable to infuse this material with either the sustained screwball cadences of his earlier "Tadpole" or an emotional resonance comparable to that of his superb "The Tic Code."
|
| 50 |
Chicago Tribune
Plays like it was made by people who are 30 going on 13. The movie is as flighty and mixed up as the adolescent girl at its center.
|
| 50 |
Christian Science Monitor
You won't find a load of laughs in 13 Going on 30, but there's plenty of whimsy, which is a close cousin of genuine humor.
|
| 40 |
Dallas Observer
What could have been an engaging, maybe even enlightening story about the unfairly high price a woman pays for conducting herself like a man winds up as nothing more than a worthless, harmless and ultimately charmless piffle.
|
| 40 |
Film Threat
Pete Vonder Haar
Does it have its moments? A few, but those alone put it head and shoulders above similar offerings featuring, say, Julia Roberts.
|
| 40 |
Austin Chronicle
The film lacks the emotional resonance that made "Big" such a sentimental favorite with audiences of all ages.
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