{"id":1983,"date":"2024-08-05T15:19:44","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T15:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=1983"},"modified":"2024-10-14T12:33:25","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T16:33:25","slug":"18-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/05\/18-again\/","title":{"rendered":"18 Again!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"18 Again! <\/strong>(1988)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New World\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 93 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (language, nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Paul Flaherty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Josh Goldstein and Jonathan Prince\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Billy Goldenberg\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Stephen M. Katz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: April 8, 1988 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: George Burns, Charlie Schlatter, Tony Roberts, Anita Morris, Miriam Flynn, Jennifer Runyon, Red Buttons, George DiCenzo, Bernard Fox, Kenneth Tigar, Anthony Starke, Pauly Shore.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $2.5M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0The third entry in the \u201cInvasion of the Body Switchers\u201d comedy cycle of 1987-88 is 18 Again<\/strong>, an imperfect but agreeable piece with a slight twist. Instead of a father and son changing places, it\u2019s a grandfather and grandson played by George Burns (Oh, God!) and Charlie Schlatter (Heartbreak Hotel). Of the four body-switch comedies, it ranks between Vice Versa (#2) and Like Father, Like Son (DEAD LAST!) To its credit, it\u2019s a big improvement over the Dudley Moore-Kirk Cameron debacle.<\/p>\n

\u00a0On his 81st<\/sup> birthday, Jack Watson (that\u2019s Burns, of course) makes a wish that we all know will come true by the end of the first reel. He wants to be 18 again (hence the title). As it so happens, his grandson David (Schlatter) is 18. They\u2019ve always been close, partners-in-crime you might even say. They leave the party early to grab a bite to eat at a diner. While returning home, they get into a car accident that leaves David pretty banged up and Jack in a coma. Also, Jack\u2019s spirit has slipped into his grandson\u2019s body and vice versa (oops!). Now he gets to be a young man again.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The problem is that David\u2019s reality is far from idyllic. A first-year college student, he\u2019s bullied endlessly by his fraternity president Russ (Starke, Return of the Killer Tomatoes) and his two sidekicks. He\u2019s being forced to write their term papers. He\u2019s hardly the star of the school track team. He likes this cute girl named Robin (Runyon, Up the Creek) but can\u2019t summon up the courage to ask her out. All of this changes once Jack takes over, of course.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In David\u2019s body, Jack learns a few sad truths. For one, his female companion Madeline (Morris, Ruthless People) is a gold-digging slut. He figures this out when she makes a pass at David\/Jack. Also, he realizes the rocky relationship between David and his father Arnie (Roberts, Manhattan) mirrors that of him and Arnie. Just like Jack never listened to any of his son\u2019s ideas on how to improve the family business, Arnie doesn\u2019t listen to his own son about being more interested in art than accounting. He hopes to come out of his coma and fix things before it\u2019s too late. He won\u2019t if that bitch Madeline has her way.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As much as I like 18 Again<\/strong>, I must say that I\u2019m disappointed Burns isn\u2019t it more. He spends most of the movie unconscious in a hospital bed. It\u2019s always great to see an old vet like Burns do this thing. He was 92 at the time and as lively as ever. Before he exits for a long period, he gets to sing a little number (\u201cI Wish I Was 18 Again\u201d) at his birthday celebration. That is the George Burns I love. Speaking of old-timers, comedian Red Buttons (The Poseidon Adventure) co-stars as Jack\u2019s pal Charlie, the only one who knows the truth about him being in David\u2019s body. It\u2019s great seeing him too.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Schlatter does a damn good George Burns imitation. The sight of him walking around with a cigar delivering lines in the style of his elder co-star is both funny and a tribute. You gotta love somebody that wears a suit and bow tie to a punk rock club. Another bonus, he doesn\u2019t complain about the loud music like Kirk Cameron in that other body-switch movie. He\u2019s cool about it even incorporating a few old school moves when dancing with Robin. I also like the bit where he teaches his frat brothers a few costly lessons in the art of poker playing. And the scene in David\u2019s art class when the female model disrobes, LOL! David\/Jack\u2019s reaction is priceless. It\u2019s obvious Schlatter is having a lot of fun here. Be warned though, it\u2019s infectious. It might make you smile.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Morris specializes in gold-digger roles. Didn\u2019t she do the same in Ruthless People and Blue City? Here she looks like a middle-aged version of Jessica Rabbit except her character isn\u2019t as lovable as the average femme fatale. I just love Runyon. She\u2019s talented and beautiful. She\u2019s great as Robin, the nice girl destined to break up with Russ after finally figuring out he\u2019s a jerk. Also, Bernard Fox (Yellowbeard) has some funny scenes as Jack\u2019s quietly witty butler. In addition, 18 Again<\/strong> features one of Pauly Shore\u2019s (Encino Man) first screen appearances as David\u2019s best friend. This was before he became PAULY SHORE.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019ll grant that 18 Again<\/strong> contains its fair share of clich\u00e9s from the father-son plotlines to the 20s-themed frat party to the big race in the finale where David (as himself) competes with Russ. So what if it\u2019s predictable? I didn\u2019t really expect any big plot surprises. In some ways, it\u2019s like Back to School. I don\u2019t mind because it ultimately gave me what I wanted. It made me laugh and I got see Burns act again. It would be his next-to-last movie role. Before he died in \u201996, he made a brief appearance in the flop 1994 comedy Radioland Murders.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In any event, I whole-heartedly believe 18 Again<\/strong> deserves more credit than it gets. It\u2019s funny, sweet and easy to take. Directed by Paul Flaherty (Who\u2019s Harry Crumb?), it tickles the funny bone instead of beating the viewer over the head. It\u2019s the bee\u2019s knees and the cat\u2019s pajamas!\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

18 Again! (1988)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New World\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 93 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (language, nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Paul Flaherty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Josh Goldstein and Jonathan Prince\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Billy Goldenberg\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Stephen M. Katz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: April 8, 1988 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: George Burns, Charlie Schlatter, Tony Roberts, Anita Morris, Miriam Flynn, Jennifer Runyon, Red Buttons, George DiCenzo, Bernard Fox, Kenneth Tigar, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/18-Again-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1983"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2781,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983\/revisions\/2781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}