[imdb 17 Again]17 Again was very cute. The trailer portrayed it very well: a light-hearted, magical romp where everyone finds their true place in life. Yes, it’s an old story, but the film does a good job of taking a tired fairy tale and giving it a new spin. There weren’t any especially riotously funny parts, but it gave my friend and me a good time.
I think the trailer did a nice job of succinctly setting up the main plot of the film without giving us a play-by-play. There were a few details in the set-up that were rightly left out of the preview, and made for some nice dramatic tension. This strategy is in direct opposition to, say, Funny People’s trailer, where the audience already knows the ins and outs of the conflict without even watching the film.
On the whole, though, the trailer for 17 Again leaves very few surprises for the viewer. You can pretty much guess how to film is going to flow. Just from watching the trailer, my fiance took note of the scene where Effron has his arm around his “daughter” Michelle Trachtenberg. Dan predicted that there was going to be a little confusion on the daughter’s part, what with the sexy, talented new kid paying her a bunch of unwarranted attention. Who can blame the poor girl? Just goes to show you that magical time-travel can lead into some sticky situations (see Back to the Future).
[imdb 17 Again]Artistically speaking, there is not much to the 17 Again trailer. It is simply a straightforward presentation of the plot through a montage of various clips. Blah, right?
Almost. However, I find this to be a pretty good trailer, for what it is. True, it doesn’t elicit the same sort of emotional response Last House on the Left’s trailer did, but 17 Again does exactly what it should. It presents the basic information, such as cast and plot, but it doesn’t go so far as to reveal the juiciest bits of info, nor does it spoil the ending.
Furthermore, I think the author did an amazing job exhibiting the humor of the film. The jokes shown in the trailer are tame, but still amusing. As the viewer, I get the sense of the style of comedy the film is reaching for. The jokes in the trailer all have the same sort of punch to them, so I don’t feel as though they are dishing out the best material just for the trailer. Unlike, for example, the films pumped out by the Judd Apatow crowd. They suffer from flasher syndrome, where the trailer authors go around flashing the film’s funniest bits, leaving the audience with no real payoff in the theaters.
17 Again feels as though there are probably some more humorous gems waiting for the audience to discover on their own. The jokes in the trailer make me giggle, but only enough that I am sure I can expect funnier bits to come. I appreciate trailers with reserved comedy tones just as much as I appreciate a trailer that doesn’t give away the ending. Yet again, what is the point of shelling out hard earned cash to see a film when all of the funny bits were already given to you? There is no point. Surfing youtube’s trailers is way cheaper in this economy schlump. So here’s to hoping 17 Again has a few cards up its sleeve.
