Hale Kilinahe: Pith of Pop: 13 Going on 30

When I saw that Ryan had added this title to our Netflix queue, I cringed.

I was convinced it was a remake of Big. But with a girl. It even had the goofy dance scene like the one Tom Hanks does with Robert Loggia on the giant piano at F.A.O. Schwartz. Why would anyone remake Big? More importantly, why would anyone want to see a remake of Big?

Jennifer Garner's character, Jenna Rink, aches to be popular. And has really big hair. Unlike Josh, the main character in Big, Jenna has the oportunity to redeem herself. Josh isn't quite old enough to make bad decisions yet, but Jenna is, and I was too, once, and this film reminded me of all of them. And then it made me smile. The Thriller dance sequence could have been corny, but it's so well done that it's sweet and memorable. All the 80's music and fashion is fun to see, if not a little embarrassing for those of us unlucky enough to have been caught wearing it.

Jennifer Garner is way cute. She's the only actress working today who would have been believable as Jenna. Judy Greer (Kitty on Arrested Development) is really good, too, as Jenna's evil best friend. There's one scene where her character is drunk and leaving a bar with Jenna. Jenna has just spotted her hockey player boyfriend and is going home with him. For just a second, we see this look in her eyes; a look of world-weary resignation. I love that.

The ending is a bit of a head-scratcher. Other wise, I loved it. Pure dumb fun.