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13 Going on 30 poster

13 Going on 30

year 2004decade 00sdirector Gary Winickgenre Romantic comedygenre Fantasy

98 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Jennifer Garner Jenna Rink
Christa B. Allen Young Jenna
Mark Ruffalo Matty Flamhaff
Sean Marquette Young Matty
Judy Greer Lucy "Tom-Tom" Wyman
Alexandra Kyle Young Lucy
Andy Serkis Richard Kneeland
Kathy Baker Beverly Rink
Phil Reeves Wayne Rink
Samuel Ball Alex Carlson
Kiersten Warren Trish Sackett
Jim Gaffigan Chris Grandy
Lynn Collins Wendy
Ashley Benson Six Chick
Brie Larson Six Chick

13 Going on 30 | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Juliet Litman
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Top Ten List

Body-switch comedies

  1. 1 The Hot Chick
  2. 2 Dream a Little Dream
  3. 3 father-son versions (17 Again, Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa)
  4. 4 The Change-Up
  5. 5 Prelude to a Kiss
  6. 6 All of Me
  7. 7 Freaky Friday (2003)
  8. 8 13 Going on 30
  9. 9 Being John Malkovich
  10. 10 Big
In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:24Read transcript
  • The ranking covers only comedies, excluding horror and science-fiction versions such as Face/Off, Freaky (called actually really liked), Nine Lives with Kevin Spacey trapped in a cat, and The Cobbler with Adam Sandler.
  • The list builds from one out of ten, The Hot Chick with Rob Schneider and Rachel McAdams, joking she should make a Notebook sequel to buy up all copies.
  • Two out of ten is Dream a Little Dream with the Corys, a rare four-person switch that somehow got a sequel.
  • Three out of ten groups the father-son versions: 17 Again, Like Father Like Son with Kirk Cameron and Dudley Moore, and Vice Versa with Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage, the best of the three.
  • Four out of ten is The Change-Up with Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman, not a very good movie.
  • Five out of ten is Prelude to a Kiss with Meg Ryan and Alec Baldwin, called the Juliet stratosphere.
  • Asked for thoughts, the reply places it in the latter days of Meg Ryan's arc, a film that felt like a favor but was enjoyable; it made the playoffs but is not a round-two movie. — Juliet Litman
  • Six out of ten is All of Me with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin; seven is the 2003 Freaky Friday with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, called rock solid, with a tangent on Lohan's Parent Trap to Mean Girls run.
  • Eight is 13 Going on 30, nine Being John Malkovich as the highbrow version, and ten Big, called the best one ever and the icon everything else derives from.

Steven Seagal shitting on himself award for most unbelievable anecdote from the actual film shoot

Ruffalo nearly quitting over the Thriller rehearsals

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:33:28Read transcript
  • The anecdote is presented under the Steven Seagal award name: the hosts say Ruffalo almost left the project during Thriller rehearsals because he hated the rehearsal process and choreography, and had to be talked into staying.
  • It is called funny because he came up through Broadway plays; he is joked to be a serious-plays guy, not a musicals guy, and his Thriller is called a mail-in that makes the scene more fun.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:06Read transcript
  • Ebert was not impressed: two stars, saying Jennifer Garner is a charmer but the victim of a charmless treatment.
  • Ebert could not buy the magazine office, professionals not noticing a 13-year-old mind, Jenna's spectacularly bad redesign being accepted, and emotional and sexual puzzles; he said it should have been a musical. His points are called decent.
  • He liked Garner, which is credited for getting two stars out of him.
  • Wesley Morris, then at the Boston Globe, called it a contagious but dopey first star vehicle for TV's Jennifer Garner, tailor-made for women who lust for dream houses, dream jobs and dream hubbies; a host guesses that if asked now he would call it one of his favorites of the last 25 years.
  • Dopey can still be fun; Ebert's logic points are correct but part of the genre, and the office looks like the Working Girl set.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Waking up at 30 through arriving at work

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:42Read transcript
  • The big party where the Six Chicks show up is a first pick; school cliques like an "A squad" at Bronx High School of Science and college "BPs" are recalled.
  • Jenna being mean to Beaver hurts, and seven minutes in heaven is joked to be banned in 50 states in 2026.
  • Tom Tom becoming Judy Greer is called one of the best teen-to-adult castings; Greer reportedly disagrees, and young Jenna reads as Hilary Swank to one participant, which is disputed.
  • Jenna waking up at 30 (cell phone, checking her body, the hockey player, "I'm Jenna Rink, big-time magazine editor") is great, a mission statement for Garner recalling Hanks in Big.
  • Visiting Matt requires suspension of disbelief since he doesn't react as if she were on drugs.
  • The dress-up montage uses Whitney Houston; Lips Like Sugar by Echo and the Bunnymen was reportedly planned but could not be licensed.
  • Jenna saving the party with Thriller is an iconic rom-com scene; the green modified Versace dress became a yearly Halloween costume, though her dancing starts stiff and Ruffalo drags his foot while the Gollum actor bangs it out.
  • Asked by name whether Michael Jackson's baggage complicates the scene now, the reply is no; the surprise is that everyone at a 2004 party knew the whole dance.
  • Wesley Morris wrote that watching the cast dance like ghouls made him cringe: "the amateurness isn't cute, it's scary."
  • It recalls bar mitzvahs and the Cha-Cha Slide; Arlene the secretary joining is a favorite moment.
  • The Liz Phair montage with Razzles and the Brooklyn Bridge, and Love Is a Battlefield with the nice Six Chicks, are included; one more scene of Jenna advising the 13-year-olds is wanted.
  • Jenna's class-of-2004 pitch is rewatchable as probably the worst publishing idea of all time, while Lucy's heroin-chic idea sounds pretty good.
  • Jenna and Lucy having it out, with Judy Greer lights out, is the last pick; the wedding scene is excluded and Vienna is saved for later.
  • The other pick is the first scene waking up in the apartment: the umbrella gag, the physical comedy, and the slip with the jacket as the defining look.
  • Both agree the first 25 minutes, from the closet until she gets to work, are excellent.

The most "year the movie came out" thing

Surprise at a cell phone ring; Courteney Cox magazine cover; Rudy Giuliani office photo; flip phone; Liz Phair's Why Can't I; Garner's MTV Movie Awards and Teen Choice nominations

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:45Read transcript
  • An ASR-unclear item about the phone ('so many m's on the phone ... he wants a decision now') and being surprised by a cell phone ring are offered; the slip dress is called a little 1997.
  • Past magazine covers feature Courteney Cox, very 2004, and Marisa Tomei.
  • Jenna's office wall has a photo with Rudy Giuliani, from when that was just the 9/11 mayor, not a joke.
  • The flip phone, with colored screens arriving around 2002-2003, and the twice-used Liz Phair song are picks.
  • Garner's performance earning MTV Movie Awards and Teen Choice Awards nominations, possible only in a three-year vortex, is offered as a winner, but the same speaker then defers: 'I think you're right with Liz Phair.'

Gandolfini Butter on My Ass So It Pops in My Mouth Award

Rom-com bitches; Jennifer Garner's hairstyles

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:10Read transcript
  • Rom-com bitches are loved: mean but never catastrophically so, watered-down versions of people everyone knows; Lucy is one.
  • Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl is an example; Judy Greer is unassailable and makes this a better movie.
  • Lucy is Jenna's Darth Vader, pulling her to the Six Chicks from the 13th birthday party.
  • A tangent asks whether Jenna Rink would have had a bat mitzvah and is Jewish, with Kathy Baker recalled from Picket Fences and Street Smart, and a Jewish-themed pilot with Adam Friedland still only in text messages.
  • Jennifer Garner's hairstyles, including chopsticks in the hair, track the character's evolution and add a feminine touch.

What’s Aged the Best?

J.Lo magazine covers; the Six Chicks; Kathy Baker as the mom; wardrobe color shifts; Billy Joel; Ruffalo's wardrobe; luxury references; New York exteriors; the pink slip dress; the 61 Fifth Avenue apartment

In the discussion (18)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:48Read transcript
  • Obviously and unquestionably the J.Lo magazine covers in a Garner movie, right as J.Lo is about to split from Ben Affleck, whom Garner is about to date.
  • Near the end Jenna takes down the J.Lo Sparkle covers; the hosts say that five months later Garner and Affleck debuted at Fenway for Game 1 of the World Series, which the speaker says they attended.
  • The hosts say the J.Lo relationship didn't go over with the fan base because she was an unabashed Yankees fan from the Bronx; showing up at the 2004 World Series with Garner, who had a 100 percent approval rating, is a Nick Hornby moment.
  • The Six Chicks as a gimmick: a group of mean girls in a rom-com has a 100 percent success rate, and the name works.
  • The Six Chicks include Brie Larson and Ashley Benson, and Brie Larson seems bumped from the yearbook photo once Jenna ascends.
  • Asked about the mechanics, the answer is that row position reflects closeness to the center of power, so the one on the periphery got pushed out. — Juliet Litman
  • Mean Girls and the Plastics arrived a week later, which is said to have hurt this movie.
  • Kathy Baker as the mom is great casting that looks like mother and daughter, with a good line about not regretting her mistakes.
  • Ariana Grande's thank u, next video homages this movie, with the dream house.
  • Wardrobe shifts to warmer colors as Jenna softens and darker as Lucy turns ruthless; Garner has reportedly worked with the costume designer, Susie, about ten times since.
  • The green Thriller dress reportedly ended up in a costume warehouse and was spotted on a Sex and the City extra, looking different.
  • Billy Joel from the mid-2000s on has aged incredibly, and the 1987 mixtapes are well done.
  • Matt's girlfriend, an attractive anchorwoman moving to Chicago, introduces the term commuter couple and belittles his vitamin-bottle photos.
  • Ruffalo's wardrobe (Adidas, CBGB shirt, well-fitted pants) and his pendant light are still in style.
  • Luxury references like St. Barts and the San Ysidro Ranch remain aspirational.
  • New York locations such as 444 Madison and 61 Fifth avoid anything gimmicky; the movie shows a sunny, crime-free New York without acknowledging 9/11.
  • The pink slip dress is something people would wear now.
  • The apartment at 61 Fifth, 7C, in Greenwich Village would rent for about $55,000 a month now; an Alec Baldwin and Hilaria sighting nearby follows.

Is There a Better Title for This Movie?

No

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:30Read transcript
  • The first answer is no.
  • Abroad, including Australia, it was called Suddenly 30, apparently because the original title wouldn't translate, despite Sound of Music's "16 Going on 17".
  • Asked by name whether Suddenly 30 is preferred, a third participant answers that 13 Going on 30 is better.
  • Another voice calls Suddenly 30 pretty good and likes it; "30 and flirty and thriving" is the line of the movie and probably the porn parody title.

The Vincent Chase Award: Are We Sure This Character Is Actually Good at Their Job?

Jenna; her boss

Flex pick · Juliet Litman

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:28Read transcript
  • Both Jenna and her boss, played by the Andy Serkis / Gollum character, are questioned.
  • The boss loving the presentation shows terrible taste, and inviting Sparkle's editor-in-chief to the Poise party makes no sense.
  • Jenna, while committing IP theft, keeps a paper trail instead of making a phone call.
  • The response agrees neither was good at the job, which is why Poise was in trouble.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

The return-to-13 ending

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:56Read transcript
  • Back at 13 with eight days of being 30, she still ends up with Matt, though redoing 17 years should change everything; it doesn't track.
  • Unlike Big, where the kid seems to remember nothing, she does appear to remember, ripping up the paper when Tom Tom returns.
  • She presumably spends high school being kind and waiting for Matt, knowing he'll look like Mark Ruffalo in 17 years.

What’s Aged the Worst?

No email or internet; the hockey player and his striptease; cheap apartment decor; Jenna's lack of curiosity about 2004; the art-department husband; the plastic-surgery line

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:20Read transcript
  • Jenna hitting on a 13-year-old boy is called really uncomfortable, while the other participant thought the punchline was great and fine as a joke.
  • It would be worse with genders swapped; she looks sexiest in that scene, and Lucy would have had her committed after it.
  • Seven minutes in heaven is called gone, with pushback that it may be consensual and better than drugs; Matt's seven-minutes joke was ahead of its time.
  • There is no email or internet in a 2004 movie.
  • The hockey stuff insults hockey players; the hosts say the 2004 Rangers went 27-40, and real hockey players are stoic, unlike Alex Carlson; the goofy striptease is the worst scene, which is agreed.
  • Jenna's apartment has cheap-looking kitchen cabinets and furniture.
  • She isn't curious enough about 2004, missing an easy Michael Jackson cover joke, unlike Elf.
  • The scene where the husband of Tracy from the art department comes in, with a line about the drawers last week, felt like it was from a different movie; it was meant to show she was an awful person but didn't work.
  • Ruffalo's character talks about the plastic-surgery movement as if it were over.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

It is not a rom-com but a teen movie; Vienna was the most underrated great pop song from 1977 to 2004

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:29:57Read transcript
  • It is not a rom-com but a teen movie: they end up together only through time travel, Jenna is 13, there is no threat to overcome, and the moral is be a nice person.
  • The response: it might not even be the hottest take, just right.
  • From 1977 to 2004 Vienna was the most underrated great pop song, among the best ever with Wonderwall, Hey Jude and I Will Always Love You, and it took 28 years for a movie to unlock it.
  • Billy Joel reportedly calls it one of his two best and credits the film's popularity with girls for its late success.
  • Vienna and Summer, Highland Falls are called his underrated great songs; the other participant came to love it via the Spotify algorithm and calls it a B-side-like song that sets the scene apart.
  • A participant's daughter sang Vienna at a fifth-grade talent show, a parenting highlight, though no other parent knew the song.

Casting What-Ifs

Reported backups Gwyneth Paltrow, Hilary Swank and Renee Zellweger; Paul Rudd and Sam Rockwell for Matt

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:38Read transcript
  • Paltrow, Swank and Zellweger were reportedly backups if Garner couldn't do it; neither participant thinks they work, though mid-90s Zellweger might.
  • Young Jenna looks like Hilary Swank; Paltrow and Ruffalo later made a flight attendant movie that was not good.
  • The casting director reportedly said Paul Rudd and Sam Rockwell were next if Ruffalo turned it down; Rudd could work.
  • Test audiences reportedly hated the original young Matt and young Jenna, who were reshot with different actors.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Kiersten Warren as Trish

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:05Read transcript
  • Kathy Baker is too known to count; Gollum is "clearly" offered, but the response is that he is too famous after 20 years of movies.
  • The alternative is Kiersten Warren as Trish, the frizzy-haired Sparkle editor-in-chief at the party, recognized from Saved by the Bell: The College Years; called a good one and a great call.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Arlene the assistant

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:33Read transcript
  • Young Tom Tom, the frizzy Sparkle editor and the cab driver (ASR "chris grundy" / "grandy") are offered, but it's clearly Arlene the assistant, hitting home runs and crying during the worst pitch ever.
  • Arlene is loved, especially when invited along with "aren't you coming?" and visibly touched.

Recasting Couch

Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Alex Carlson

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:26Read transcript
  • Tim Curry is offered for the magazine editor role.
  • Ryan Reynolds as Alex Carlson, post-Van Wilder, is suggested, but the other participant has always been anti-Ryan Reynolds and finds him unlikable here.
  • Mark-Paul Gosselaar is offered instead, the most important actor to that participant from 1986 to 1992; "I could see that working."
  • Scott Wolf would have been great but is shorter than Garner.
  • The movie would work in almost any city, such as Chicago, Boston, LA or San Francisco.

Best Hang / Worst Hang

Young Matt

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:14Read transcript
  • A Lena Dunham running Spahn Ranch award for most jarring casting, Andy Serkis as Smeagol in an office, was considered but already covered.
  • Best Hang / Worst Hang is a category believed to be off the flex list, called accidentally deleted.
  • Young Matt is a sneaky great hang: independent, dancing to Talking Heads, good music taste, a photographer and woodworking hobbyist who fetches his keyboard guitar to save the party.
  • The response: would absolutely have been friends with Matt in the 80s; a good one.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Christa B. Allen's repeat young-Garner role; Garner's childhood photos on the closet door; deleted Alex Carlson breakup scene

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:39:37Read transcript
  • The hosts report that Christa B. Allen played 13-year-old Jenna and again played Garner's younger version in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
  • The hosts report that the seven-minutes-in-heaven closet door shows actual photos of Garner as a child.
  • The hosts report that a deleted scene of Jenna breaking up with Alex Carlson is on the Blu-ray special features; one participant owned the DVD in college.

Apex Mountain

Jennifer Garner as an actress; Vienna

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 01:40:08Read transcript
  • Jennifer Garner is a yes: on Alias, the movie nearly makes $100 million, and she starts dating Ben Affleck; the other agrees as an actress.
  • She is more famous and richer now, as the Capital One spokesperson who took Once Upon a Farm public, so money-making Garner may not have peaked here.
  • A participant interviewed her for a Felicity project; she did 20th-anniversary press with Judy Greer for Vogue and is called a beloved Hollywood lady.
  • Mark Ruffalo's entry is only "mark ruffalo now" (ASR), so no clear judgment is recorded.
  • Razzles: this is probably the most prominent Razzles appearance, unless the 80s.
  • For 2000s fake fashion-magazine plots, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is the bigger magazine rom-com and would be the apex; Eva Mendes in Hitch and Kate Hudson are the biggest such roles.
  • Madonna's Crazy for You: the answer is no, since it was already big from Vision Quest; Thriller is obviously mid-80s.
  • Sam Ball, who played Alex Carlson, has multiple IMDb names, a red flag; "I hope to never see him again."
  • Post-9/11 feel-good New York movies: this is in the running, but Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 (and 25th Hour) are up there.
  • Judy Greer: no; Descendants is a better performance, and she is a reliable second banana.
  • Rom-com characters cruelly breaking up a wedding: My Best Friend's Wedding, A Lot Like Love or this; it has to be Julia Roberts.
  • Vienna reached Apex Mountain here, completely rejuvenated and finally getting its acclaim after 27 years; agreed.

Goldie Hawn / Sharon Stone / Cameron Diaz / Sandra Bullock / Scarlett Johansson / Sydney Sweeney Comparison

Emma Stone

The panel proposes a new category here.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:45:49Read transcript
  • An unprepped category: 1977 Goldie Hawn, 1991 Julia, 2011 Emma Stone or 2026 Zendaya.
  • Emma Stone would have crushed it, with the physicality for the first scene and an attainable screen presence.
  • Going further, Stone would play herself at 13 as well, filmed by Yorgos Lanthimos with CGI.

Picking Nits

Living with an undone alternate life; New York geography; unemployed Matt; unrealistic magazine business; Jenna not looking things up; Six Chicks dressed for 1985; anachronistic video camera; Matt too accepting; littering; unchanged basement; junk food without consequence; kept Sparkle letters; overnight bus ads; the dollhouse; the home wedding

In the discussion (16)
Approx. transcript time · 01:47:09Read transcript
  • The biggest nit is how she lives knowing she undid an alternate life.
  • New York details: 61 Fifth Avenue is at 11th Street but they show 12th, she asks what the Village is while living there, and travel is too quick.
  • Matt seems unemployed and always available; he needed hobbies like fantasy football or the Knicks and is probably a pothead, which suits Ruffalo not wanting to be there.
  • The magazine business is unrealistic: relaunches are normal, not a death sentence.
  • She would have had more questions and could have looked things up on a You've Got Mail-style computer.
  • The Six Chicks are dressed like 1985, not 1987, lacking big hair, per a participant in high school then.
  • Jenna's dad's small video camera didn't exist in 1987, when cameras were bulky.
  • Matt should have been far more alarmed by how crazy Jenna was.
  • Adult Jenna litters, throwing shrimp over her shoulder; one participant admits to littering as a kid, and an off-mic participant is said to hate littering.
  • The parents would have remodeled the basement in 17 years.
  • Jenna eats junk the whole movie with no jeans-don't-fit payoff.
  • Evil Jenna keeps the Sparkle letters in her desk drawer.
  • The class-of-2004 ad is on buses within 12 hours, though bus ads are booked far in advance.
  • A participant's wife's biggest nit: engaged Matt keeps a dollhouse of Jenna, with a bathtub picture, for 17 years; any partner would smash it.
  • The dollhouse is at his parents' house, which is still weird and suggests they want him back with her; she threw it at him, yet it is unbroken.
  • Weddings at a parent's house are a movie trope; home weddings in the Hamptons are very expensive, and someone who can afford San Ysidro could afford a hotel.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Remake

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:56:01Read transcript
  • A listener email expands the choices to sequel, prequel, streamer, all-Black cast, spin-off, remake or untouchable.
  • The answer is remake, ironically: the hosts say Netflix announced in March 2026 a remake directed by Brett Haley starring Emily Bader and Logan Lerman, with Garner and Greer spotted doing cameos and Garner possibly an EP.
  • Odds: 30 percent it's good, 70 percent disappointing, and 100 percent a wife and daughter watch and love it.
  • It is surprising it wasn't already a one-season streaming show; it would be an Amazon YA show needing more sexual content.
  • A hypothetical version has her turn 30 as a male hockey player, a Heated Rivalry take.

Is This Movie Better With…?

No

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:58:25Read transcript
  • With about four to six people in the movie, the answer is no; the small cast is fine.
  • Kirk Herbstreit is wanted on the director's commentary during the magazine pitch.

Just One Oscar

Costumes and wardrobe

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:59:23Read transcript
  • The soundtrack is raised, but there is only an original-song Oscar; a compiled soundtrack should get an Oscar or Grammy.
  • Definitely the costumes and wardrobe, credited on air to Susie DeSanto, the reason the movie transcended culture.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Why she is named Tom Tom; Lucy's first Sparkle issue; who won Poise versus Sparkle; an R-rated version

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:59:52Read transcript
  • Why is she named Tom Tom?
  • What is the first Sparkle issue Lucy oversees?
  • Who won Poise versus Sparkle in the 2000s? Neither: Us Weekly knocked both out.
  • An R-rated version with Cameron Diaz is interesting; Poor Things is called Ruffalo's R-rated version, and an R version would not have made $100 million.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Nanette Lepore jacket

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 02:01:18Read transcript
  • It's either the dollhouse or the dress.
  • The jacket she wears over the slip dress on her first day at work, a Nanette Lepore, is the pick; the Thriller dress would make the most money on eBay in 2010.
  • Definitely the jacket; Lili Reinhart reportedly borrowed one from the designer for a press tour.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

"Those aren't real people, honey. Those are models."

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 02:01:47Read transcript
  • Offered: "I don't want to be original, I want to be cool" as a bad lesson, "you can't just turn back time" as profound, or "slow down you crazy child."
  • Kathy Baker's "those aren't real people, honey, those are models" is offered and accepted as one of them.

Producer review

A first-time watch that impressed

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 02:02:47Read transcript
  • Never seen it before: nine years old and a boy at release, watching Superbad by 16.
  • It is one of Liz's favorite movies and she was extremely excited to watch it.
  • Garner is seen more around Brentwood than in movies; the recalled credits are Juno, Draft Day and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
  • Agreeing with an earlier point, most people in their 20s think of Garner as the Capital One lady who was married to Ben Affleck, like Paul Newman and salad dressing.
  • Garner's physical acting is amazing and subtle, down to the giant pina colada gulps; the movie is better seen in your 30s than at 13.
  • A daughter identified with the teen parts while a wife loved it in her 30s; adult themes include Matt insisting on marrying his fiancee and Jenna apologizing to her mom for missing Christmas, flipping the usual rom-com ending.
  • Someone recently watched Clueless for the first time; this holds up better as an adult watch, while Clueless is a 1995 time capsule and LA has changed.

More from the conversation

The open says the co-host has not been on in a while and plugs her shows, including the reality pod renamed Reality Hangover from Bachelor Party.
Approx. transcript time · 00:00:00Read transcript
Jennifer Garner is ranked second among people in Hollywood one participant would take a bullet for, behind Sandra Bullock, with Keri Russell third.
Approx. transcript time · 00:01:49Read transcript
A recent Garner quote about being so little when they shot it is teased; the movie is said to have re-entered the zeitgeist, and Judy Greer and Mark Ruffalo reportedly hear more about it now.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:20Read transcript
TikTok and mother-daughter Halloween costumes of young and adult Jenna help make it an intergenerational family movie with iconic fashion and lines.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:47Read transcript
In 2004 Garner was on Alias and about to date Affleck; the movie is called an unabashed Big rip-off that has been on in one household for 20 years.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:06Read transcript
Billy Joel's Vienna is the sad-music turn around the one-hour-ten mark and a reason for the movie's later lives.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:37Read transcript
Body-switch movies are an absurd premise made in waves; this came right after Freaky Friday, and Jenna's memories of her first life defy logic.
Approx. transcript time · 00:06:01Read transcript
Asked by name who he would body switch with, a third participant picks Steph Curry, with Collinsworth top five.
Approx. transcript time · 00:06:58Read transcript
2004 was the tail end of the rom-com boom; the post-Meg Ryan class was never replenished, and Rachel McAdams was never the lead in her best rom-coms.
Approx. transcript time · 00:12:37Read transcript
Garner came a tad too late for the rom-com boom; the Apatow era, male-driven comedies like Old School and Anchorman, and meta rom-coms changed the genre.
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:03Read transcript
The 97-minute runtime is praised as tight, with New York never looking better and everyone having a lane.
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:12Read transcript
Garner is called the most likable she has been, with innocence and sexiness like Hanks in Big; Cameron Diaz is the only alternative considered but lacks the innocence and sense of discovery.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:42Read transcript
Garner's pre-fame career is traced through Felicity, Significant Others, Time of Your Life and Catch Me If You Can to Alias in 2001; she reportedly hosted at a restaurant and babysat Stephen Colbert's kids.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:32Read transcript
The hosts recall that Jimmy Kimmel ran an ABC-crush bit on Garner when Alias was taking off; J.J. Abrams reportedly moved between the adjacent Felicity and Alias sets.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:28Read transcript
Garner is praised for staying close with co-stars: the hosts say Victor Garber officiated her wedding, she spoke at Ruffalo's Walk of Fame ceremony, and she reunited with Judy Greer on The Five-Star Weekend.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:54Read transcript
The Five-Star Weekend is called an abomination but a great time, with Garner as an Instagram chef hosting a Nantucket weekend.
Approx. transcript time · 00:23:51Read transcript
The hosts trace Garner's film career, including Daredevil, where they say she reconnected with Affleck, Juno, Dallas Buyers Club and Danny Collins; dark Garner roles like Peppermint are disliked.
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:48Read transcript
Bennifer is said to be possibly the first relationship nickname; the hosts cite a 2017 interview in which Affleck says he and Garner fell in love shooting Daredevil in 2002.
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:09Read transcript
Asked about actors falling for each other on set, the co-host calls it understandable and jokes about feeling that way about a colleague on the show.
Approx. transcript time · 00:28:05Read transcript
Garner should have had a bigger career but chose family; she missed chances in her 20s, such as joining 90210.
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:01Read transcript
Ruffalo's run from You Can Count on Me (a future pick) through XX/XY, In the Cut and Eternal Sunshine and the hosts say he shot this and Collateral at the same time.
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:22Read transcript
The strangest two movies someone filmed at the same time is floated as a possible category.
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:43Read transcript
Ruffalo is called the most overqualified rom-com lead since Tom Hanks, seemingly disdainful of being there.
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:11Read transcript
A cut scene reportedly had Ruffalo screaming at Jenna about the Sparkle photos; his handsomeness is debated.
Approx. transcript time · 00:33:57Read transcript
Judy Greer's rom-com run (The Wedding Planner, 13 Going on 30, 27 Dresses, Love Happens) is compared with Kathryn Hahn's.
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:53Read transcript
Andy Serkis plays the magazine editor just after Lord of the Rings; the performance improves on rewatch, likened to Martin Short in Father of the Bride.
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:10Read transcript
Poise magazine is compared with Cosmo, Jane, Lucky and an adult YM.
Approx. transcript time · 00:38:06Read transcript
The soundtrack is called the real star and one of the best ever, from Head Over Heels and the full Thriller to Vienna, Why Can't I and Love Is a Battlefield.
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:30Read transcript
The music is joked to be half the budget; big pop songs in movies are credited to the last MTV era and The O.C.'s power to break bands.
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:24Read transcript
The hosts say the film was written by Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith, directed by the late Gary Winick, and made $96 million on a $37 million budget.
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:37Read transcript
Netflix's Set It Up was reportedly built after Grantland; streaming rom-coms are praised as a throw-everything strategy.
Approx. transcript time · 00:46:58Read transcript
Streaming teen movies often involve a dying friend, compared with My Girl and The Fault in Our Stars.
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:44Read transcript
The soundtrack will give the movie a 50-60 year streaming run, and its mother-daughter appeal is compared with Gilmore Girls.
Approx. transcript time · 02:06:00Read transcript
The closing thanks the co-host and a third participant, then Gahal (ASR), Eduardo and Chris.
Approx. transcript time · 02:06:30Read transcript