13 Going on 30

In 2004, director Gary Winick delivered a romantic comedy that would become a touchstone for a generation. 13 Going on 30 tells the story of Jenna Rink, a 13-year-old outcast in 1987 who wishes to be thirty and wakes up 17 years in the future. What follows is a fizzy, big-hearted exploration of what we lose when we grow up too fast.

Jennifer Garner, fresh off her breakthrough on the TV series Alias, stars as the adult Jenna with a teenager's mind. Her performance is the film's secret weapon: she plays the role with wide-eyed wonder and physical comedy chops that make you forget she's a grown woman in a child's fantasy. Mark Ruffalo co-stars as Matt, the childhood best friend Jenna left behind, and their chemistry is the quiet engine that drives the movie past its predictable plot points.

The film leans hard on 1980s nostalgia, from the Pat Benatar soundtrack to the now-legendary Thriller dance sequence. But beneath the shoulder pads and mix tapes, 13 Going on 30 has a surprisingly sharp message about ambition, kindness, and the cost of popularity. It's a movie that asks: if you got everything you wished for, would you even recognize yourself?[edit]

It's 1987, and Jenna Rink is an awkward 13-year-old in a New Jersey suburb. Her world revolves around trying to impress the cool girls at school, the Six Chicks, led by the vicious Lucy Wyman. Jenna's best friend is Matt Flamhaff, the sweet, slightly dorky boy next door who is clearly in love with her, though she's too busy chasing popularity to notice.

At her 13th birthday party, Lucy humiliates Jenna with a prank that sends the party crashing down. Alone in her treehouse, Jenna makes a desperate wish over a box of magic wishing dust: she wants to be thirty and flirty and thriving. The next morning, she wakes up in a penthouse apartment in New York City, staring at a 30-year-old version of herself in the mirror.

Jenna has no memory of the past 17 years. She discovers she's a successful editor at Poise, a fashion magazine, and she's dating a hockey player. But her teenage mind is overwhelmed by the adult world. She can't remember her colleagues' names, she's horrified by her own ruthless behavior, and she's completely lost in a life she supposedly built.

The first person she turns to is Matt. She tracks him down and finds him working as a photographer, still nursing the wounds of their broken friendship. Adult Jenna had cruelly rejected him years ago, and he's wary of her sudden interest. But Jenna, with her 13-year-old earnestness, slowly wins him back. She convinces him to help her on a project at Poise, where her fresh, uncynical ideas for a new magazine section start to turn heads.

As Jenna navigates office politics, a sleazy photographer, and the challenge of being a good person in a cutthroat industry, she begins to realize that the adult version of herself made choices she deeply regrets. The only bright spot is her rekindled friendship with Matt, which starts to feel like something more. But time is running out: the launch party for her magazine issue is approaching, and Jenna must decide what kind of person she wants to be.[edit]