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April 15, 2009

With his breakout role in the charming and very funny new comedy “17 Again,” teen idol Zac Efron is basically sending a not-so-subtle message to anyone in Hollywood who will listen: bye-bye “High School Musical,” hello movie career.

Otherwise, “17 Again” could best be described as a hodge-podge of past “what if” films, like “Big,” “13 Going on 30,” the similarly-titled “18 Again” and both versions of “Freaky Friday.” But it’s still a good movie, thanks to a charming screenplay by Jason Filardi (“Bringing Down the House”), vibrant direction from Burr Steers (“Igby Goes Down”) and a star-making performance by Efron.