The time-travelling 00s romcom starring Jennifer Garner & Mark Ruffalo struck a cord with our younger selves.
1. The Fashion
The film opens in the mid-80s; a time when neon rara skirts and side ponytails were the skinny jeans and contour of today. When the film fast forwards to 2004 it brings a hefty load of nostalgia for the days of spaghetti strap tops and using chopsticks as hair accessories. Also, how did anyone ever fit anything in those tiny bags we all used to carry?
2. The Music
The soundtrack to 13 Going On 30 is pretty much responsible for Pop Kulture's love of 80s music. It was also responsible for that Billy Joel period we went through after hearing Vienna during the sad scene when Jenna goes to visit her parents. From Rick Springfield's Jessie's Girl to Madonna's Crazy For You, it heaps tune after tune onto your ears.
3. Judy Greer
Supporting actress extraordinaire, Judy Greer probably starred in every film you ever loved as a teen. She's made a whole career out of being the supporting role; usually playing the best friend or sister of the star and in 2014 published her memoir I Don't Know What You Know Me From: Confessions Of A Co-Star. In 13 Going On 30 she takes on the bitchy role of Lucy (or Tom-Tom) and delivers zinger lines such as "you can wipe the doe-eyed-Bambi-watching-her-mother-get-shot-and-strapped-to-the-back-of-a-van look from your face"
4. The Thriller Dance
The film's most memorable scene is when Jenna naively asks the DJ to play Thriller in a hope of spicing up her work's make-or-break party. When everyone doesn't immediately charge onto the dance floor, it's left to Jenna to dance alone until Matt joins her and -soon enough - the whole party gets into the swing of things. Props to Judy Greer for being able to dance away wearing the slinky green dress.
5. Andy Serkis
The man most famous for playing CGI characters uses his own face without the help of computers to play flamboyant, English boss of Poise magazine, Richard. He brings a pleasingly, old fashioned Britishness to the film as Richard worries about the future of his magazine. The most unnoticed joke of the film is the Bach's Rescue Remedy sitting on Richard's desk for his nerves.
6. The Sleepover
Jenna's BFFs are a bunch of 13 year old girls as that's the age she still is in her head. And, of course, the ultimate weekend activity for a 13 year old is a sleepover with some friends. The dancing around to Pat Benatar's Love Is A Battlefield is fabulous but the best line comes from the frizzy haired girl who complains "guys don't exactly want to jump your bones when your metal-mouth."
7. Jenna's Boyfriend
She never really learns his name but Jenna's New York Ranger boyfriend, Alex (we think) is so goofy and stupid he deserves a place on this list. His best moment is, of course, when he 'treats' Jenna to a striptease but his oft overlooked line "I'll show you my destroyer" when Jenna innocently asks if he has Battleship is hilarious. And a lot less disturbing than the bra scene from Big as almost-sex-scenes from time-travelling teen movies go.
8. The Closet Scene
It's Jenna's first night out as a 30 year old and she has a whole Mariah Carey style walk-in closet full of clothes to choose from. The scene is heaven for any 00s teen as she skims through her dresses and gets confused over a thong. Whitney's I Wanna Dance With Somebody which plays over the background was the go-to tune on 80s SingStar.
9. The Dreamhouse
Matt's homemade Barbie Dreamhouse is the catalyst of the whole film. He sprinkles it with Wishing Dust at the start of the film thus transporting 13 year old Jenna 17 years into the future. She wishes on it again, as a grown up 30 year old who wants to be a teenager again when she realises adult life just isn't all that fun. Props to Matt (or indeed the props department) for putting the Dreamhouse together. We're still holding out hope a guy will make one for us.
10. The Bedroom Scene
Get your minds out of the gutter, you filthy animals. Jenna rushes to Matt's parents' house just as he is about to marry Wendy - the 'anchorperson' from Chicago - to tell him she loves him and wishes he were marrying her instead. He tells her he's always loved her but has moved on and hands her the (still perfectly intact given it's 17 years old) Dreamhouse. The tears we've shed at that scene... *reaches for the Kleenex*
11. Jenna's Confusion
Poor 13, now 30, year old Jenna wakes up one day having forgotten the last 17 years of her life. Cue Jenna not knowing what a mobile phone sounds like, what her job entails or who Eminem is ("Plain. Peanut. No, plain."). There's also the scene where she almost chats up a small boy until Lucy drags her away.
12. Arlene The Assistant
Jenna's loyal assistant, Arlene doesn't even read the magazine she works for, keeps all Jenna's secrets (like the fact she slept with a colleague's husband) and, most importantly of all, she "lied to the Flamhaffs" to help Jenna find Matt.
13. The Ending
Call us sentimental, but here at Pop Kulture we love us a happy ending. When Jenna's second wish is realised and she finds herself, once again, a 13 year old girl at a party she uses the time to make things in the future better for everyone. Namely, she rips up the paper she wrote for Tom-Tom and spills some punch over her neon dress. She also knows that chubster Matt grows up to be the hottie, Mark Ruffalo and takes full advantage of this knowledge - as we all would - by planting a kiss on his lips. The final scene sees Jenna & Matt tie the knot and move into a replica Dreamhouse. *sob*
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