13 Going on 30 (2004)
- Many of the practical effects used in the climax were achieved without any CGI.
- During the filming of 13 Going on 30, Jennifer Garner improvised one of the most famous lines in the movie.
- The incredible score for 13 Going on 30 was composed in just a few weeks after the original composer dropped out.
13 Going on 30 is a 2004 American romantic fantasy comedy directed by Gary Winick. Jennifer Garner stars as Jenna Rink, a 13-year-old girl in 1987 who makes a birthday wish to be "thirty, flirty, and thriving" and wakes up the next morning as a 30-year-old woman in 2004, with no memory of the 17 years she skipped. Now an editor at a glamorous fashion magazine, Jenna discovers that adult life isn't the fantasy she imagined β she has become shallow and manipulative, alienated her childhood best friend Matty, played by Mark Ruffalo, and made choices her 13-year-old self would be horrified by.
Jennifer Garner's performance was the film's greatest asset β she played a grown woman with a child's perspective with such genuine, wide-eyed enthusiasm that the comedy never felt forced. The Thriller dance scene at the party, in which Jenna leads the entire room in Michael Jackson's choreography, became the film's most beloved moment. Mark Ruffalo brought gentle warmth as the boy-next-door grown into a sweet, talented photographer. 13 Going on 30 earned $96 million worldwide on a $37 million budget.
