This might be the most embarrassing review I will ever write, but you know what is satisfying? A rom-com. With extra com. Just a good old formulaic rom-com, wherein a dude gets in trouble with the old lady, and then he comes up with a kookaburra scheme to win her back, and then someone gets kicked in the testicles and johnson, and then dude's scheme kind of works, but then he blows it, and then he almost has to make out with his own teenage daughter, and then dude escapes and is redeemed and everyone kisses (only minus the incest this time). Good stuff. Good, stupid stuff.

You can see the finish line from the opening credits of 17 Again—in which Matthew Perry (paunchy, gargoylish), after a run-in with Brian Doyle-Murray the Magic Janitor, transforms into his 17-year-old self, Zac Efron, for a second chance at success—but the predictability doesn't matter one bit. And the reason it doesn't matter is two fold: (1) It isn't trying to matter. It's a movie about Matthew Perry being transformed into his 17-year-old self, played by Zac Efron, who then almost has to make out with his own daughter. Do I have to say it again? And (2) Zac Efron (whom I once referred to as "Olivia Newton Efron," for which I am so kind of sorry) is a COMEDIC MASTERMIND. Also, hot. (Just watching the dude walk around is miraculous, and he is 21 now, which means that I am not even very creepy.)

According to some fluffy entertainment-news wire sent to me by a publicist, Efron, the consummate professional, "picked up on Perry's mannerisms, like his habit of putting his hands in his pockets." (Ah yes, the signature Perry Hands-in-Pockets.) But, weirdly, it works. Efron's studied Perry impression has made him into a legitimately funny person. And that, combined with a light, self-aware script and a supporting performance from Thomas Lennon ("Are you now or have you ever been a Norse god, vampire, or time-traveling cyborg?"), turns 17 Again from a guilty pleasure into an actually enjoyable movie. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it's true. It's true!