17 again is an American comedy, which is finished in 2009。 There are five main characters including Mike O’Donnell, Scarlet—the wife of Mike, O’Donnell’s daughter Maggie, O’Donnell’s son Alex and O’Donnell’s best friend Ned。

In the movie, Mike O’Donnell is an excellent basketball player in his high school。 He should have got scholarship and been admitted to university directly for his talent in basketball。 However, Mike’s girlfriend Scarlet is pregnant。 Therefore Mike decides to give up the opportunity to go to college and get married with Scarlet。 Twenty years later, Mike becomes commonplace and achieves nothing, and he always complains about his life to his wife。 Then Scarlet determines to porce。 Under depression, Mike goes back to his high school where a magic janitor helps him to go back to his 17s。 After surprise, he decides to change his fate, so he returns to school with the help of his friend Ned。 However, he changes his mind finally。(Ebert 9)

17 Again is directed by Burr Steers, an American actor, screenwriter, and director; notable films include Igby Goes Down (2002) and 17 Again (2009)。 It is written by Jason Filardi, a writer and actor, known for 17 Again (2009), Bringing down the House (2003) and Drum (2004)。

In the first part, this paper gives a brief definition of midlife crisis and offers some suggestions through analyzing the experiences of main characters and phenomena of daily life。 Secondly, this paper discusses the relationship models between family members and estrangement between parents and children of the movie and then it combines them with modern life。 Then it shows the writer’s hope that people can fulfill their responsibilities to family, can face their life positively and cherish all the things that they have at present。 The author hopes that readers can gain enlightenment from the paper。

2。 Literature Review

When the movie is put on stage, it wins the first in the box office during the first week。 Although 17 Again is a low budget movie, it is a successful one, because the director shows audiences his thoughts in the form of movie。 But in daily life, there are mixed reviews about it。 Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 55%, based on 142 reviews, with an average rating of 5。4/10。 The site’s consensus reads, though it uses a famous formula, 17 Again has just enough fascination to result in a harmless, enjoyable teen comedy。 It gets the conclusion by means of counting people’s movie reviews on the Internet。 The writer thinks the result is credible to some extent because it is based on certain data。 论文网

Kirk Honeycutt thinks, despite occasional misfires, this comedy earns its laughs and delivers its life lessons。 He emphasizes the film’s influences from its benefits and nature。 There is no doubt that 17 Again is an American comedy and people can learn something important from the humorous plot。 It inspires people through the way of humor unconsciously。 

 Roger Ebert evaluates that 17 Again is comfortable, harmless entertainment, with a plot a little more surprising and acting a little better than people expect。 He analyzes the film from the aspect of plot。 He thinks the ending is not very surprising。 Maybe he could guess that when he sees the former plot。 He emphasizes the comic effect of movie that people can learn how to communicate with family members。 

Roger Moore estimates the movie that as a remake of “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Back to the Future,” it borrows from most heavily。 He thinks the relive-your-senior-year comedy 17 Again falls a little short of the mark。 But as a funny, friendly and intelligent star vehicle changes for Zac “High School Musical”, it’s right on the money。 A nice movie needs good directors, good impersonators and good scenarists and so on。