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13 Going On 30
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment


6.1

based on 35 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 33 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some sexual content and brief drug references

Starring Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Christa B. Allen, Andy Serkis, Kathy Baker, Jack Salvatore Jr., and Phil Reeves

It is 1987 and Jenna is a 13-year-old girl on the brink of womanhood. The problem is that adulthood is just not arriving fast enough. She makes a wish on her birthday: If only she could be all grown up, she'd have the life she's always wanted. Miraculously, her wish comes true. (Columbia Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Cathy Yuspa (also story) Josh Goldsmith (also story) Niels Mueller
DIRECTED BY:	Gary Winick
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: August 3, 2004 Video: August 3, 2004 Theatrical: April 23, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	97 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The rare commercial comedy that leaves you entranced by what can happen only in the movies.

Premiere Peter Debruge

Nearly perfect in its own cotton-candy way.

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.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

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.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

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.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Solidly entertaining.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Ellen A. Kim

Garner's vulnerable, winning performance strikes emotional chords (not to mention nostalgia) in this fantasy comedy.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Amusing, charming and pleasantly nostalgic.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

An unexpected pleasure, a buoyant comedy that will make you feel young again.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Isn't the best romantic comedy one might wish for, but it's more than good enough.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

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.

Variety Joe Leydon

A star vehicle composed of second-hand parts that nevertheless gets great mileage (and big laughs) from its recycled plot.

Washington Post Sara Gebhardt

A film whose far-fetched foundation is overshadowed by the endearing story.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

If "13 Going on 30" isn't exactly original, it's still reasonably cool.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

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.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

The filmmakers have an pleasurably accurate sense of the embarrassments that darken early adolescence and of the amazing cruelty of teenage girls.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

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.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

It's looking for comedy and romance in the obvious places.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

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.

TV Guide Angel Cohn

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.

Empire Olly Richards

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.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

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.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

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.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The performances give the movie more flavor and life than the situation does; it often feels like prechewed Bubble Yum.

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.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Jennifer Garner is indeed a charmer, but she's the victim of a charmless treatment in 13 Going on 30.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

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.

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.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

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."

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

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.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

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.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

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.

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.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

The film lacks the emotional resonance that made "Big" such a sentimental favorite with audiences of all ages.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.1 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Idelka R. gave it a10:
Jen Garner is a great actress. Her performance in movie was really enchanting.

Gerry gave it an8:
Cool movie, Garner is more than just a (very) pretty face, she has unreal charisma and charm. The movie never drags, and who can't relate to the adolescent angst that she and her would-be boyfriend experience, as well as the feelings we all have as we get older that cause us to wonder if we had just done "this, or that" a bit different when we were younger, things might have turned out better? In a sense, the movie is really like a combination of "Best Friend's Weddiing", and the theme about the Ghost of Christamas Future from Dickens. Unlike Julia, she gets a second chance, which is cool, because someone as awesome as Garner will ALWAYS get a second chance...I mean, she deserves it, she knows it, and we know it! Totally charming movie, and I think very well cast as well, it is a disservice to simply call it a "chick flick" (OK, it is, but there's more to it than that) or something similarly demeaning. This movie has real class, and Jennifer Garner, in my book, is the coolest of the new young actresses.

matt a. gave it a2:
I like Tom Hanks better. Stick to Alias girlfriend.

Ausin A. gave it a9:
Both cute and spunky.

Kevin E. gave it a0:
Rented it because the reviewers all gushed over Garner, and this her official superstar coming out film. What a load of crap. A stale hollywood formula from the get go, and Garner wanders around in a cartoonish state of exasperated wonder so HUGE that I longed for a CGI version of this movie so that it could be more realistic. I couldn't watch much, so I have no idea how the completely implausible story line was dealt with, if it ever was, but who cares because this kind of junk is a complete waste of time, as was the money, effort, electricity, gas, clothing, food, alarm-clock-setting, phone calls, faxing, driving, yapping, power lunches, screenings, etc that went into the making of it. C'mon people!

clare s. gave it a7:
I liked it, but I wish the guy had been wearing boxers and not y-fronts when doing the striptease. That was gross-guys, burn them.

Andy W. gave it a2:
Could be the dictionary definition of "going through the motions". Includes all the ingredients that made Big such a great film, but lacks any magic or chemistry to hold them all together. And the ending is excruciating.

13 Going On 30 Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment

13 Going On 30
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment