Jennifer Garner’s Best Movie Is Total Wish-Fulfillment And Is One Of Streaming’s Biggest Hits
Jennifer Garner's 13 Going on 30 is in the top ten most-watched movies on HBO Max.
Jennifer Garner has had a storied Hollywood career that often brings her into the world of cinematic superheroes, including the time she played Elektra in the Daredevil movie and that awful spinoff. Acting in those films brought her closer to future Batman actor (and future husband) Ben Affleck, but Garner always did her best work in comedies, including the underrated film 13 Going on 30. Fortunately, fans haven’t needed Daredevil’s radar senses to discover this movie: FlixPatrol reports that that film is now in the top 10 on both Netflix and HBO Max.
In some ways, you can consider this film to be a spiritual successor to the classic Tom Hanks movie Big. Jennifer Garner’s character starts out as an awkward 13-year-old girl who dreams of being popular in spite of (or perhaps because of) all the bullying she receives at the hands of her peers in the year 1987. Thanks to some magic dust, she ends up waking up as a 30-year-old woman in the year 2004, and the film explores how she navigates this new world and the perils of getting what she wished for.
For genre fans, one of the most interesting things about this movie is that it has some of the biggest names in the business before they got quite so big. For example, future Marvel stars Mark Ruffalo and Brie Larson are in this movie alongside girl next door Jennifer Garner. The film also features Lord of the Rings fan-favorite character Andy Serkis, who would later become an amazing character actor in both the MCU and Star Wars: Andor.
And if you love nostalgia, you’ll likely really love this movie. Seeing Jennifer Garner and the rest of the case from nearly 20 years ago is already enough of a blast to the past, but the ‘80s-centric soundtrack really takes things to the next level. It’s tough not to smile through various scenes as you listen to everything from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to Wang Chung’s iconic earworm “Everybody Have Fun Tonight.”
For the most part, the romantic comedy 13 Going on 30 was a major hit when it first premiered. The movie ended up making over $96 million at the box office, which is doubly impressive because it had to compete with major films like Denzel Washington’s Man On Fire. The film was especially popular with younger crowds, garnering (er, no pun intended) multiple Teen Choice Award nominations as well as an MTV Movie Award nomination for Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo’s memorable musical performance.
Generally speaking, Jennifer Garner’s quirky comedy was a hit with the critics as well. The movie currently has a 65 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes as well as a 70 percent audience score. The general consensus is that even though the film’s plot is paper-thin, it’s easy to vibe with the wish fulfillment angle (hell, which teen didn’t dream of being cool and popular?), and the performances of Jennifer Garner and the rest of the talented cast helps to elevate most scenes.
If you’re looking for more Jennifer Garner content after watching 13 Going on 30, you can always check out her recent episodes of Party Down and The Last Thing He Told Me. She’s also in preproduction on Fantasy Camp, a movie in which she’s a middle school teacher attending an adult performing arts camp who starts dreaming about performing on Broadway. That movie seems like it will share the same slightly bittersweet message of 13 Going on 30: no matter our age, all of us dream about taking the road less traveled and finally becoming a better version of ourselves.
