Veronica Medrano: 13 Going on 30 (2004)

The 2004 romantic comedy film, 13 Going On 30, takes place in 1987 at Jenna’s thirteenth birthday party. She invites the group of popular kids to her party along with her best friend, Matt. Matt gives her a pink dreamhouse that he made himself, along with a packet of “magic wishing dust” that he sprinkles on the dollhouse roof. During the party one of the popular girls, Lucy, tricks Jenna into playing Seven Minutes in Heaven. While Jenna waits blindfolded in a closet expecting to kiss one of the boys, Lucy and the rest of the group leave the party, and Matty finds Jenna alone. Frustrated, she tearfully wishes to be 30, as the wishing dust falls on her. The next morning, Jenna wakes up in an apartment in New York to find out her wish has come true. It is now 2004, and Jenna is 30, with no memory of the past 17 years.
Still in that thirteen year old mindset, Jenna is confused. She finds out that she is now best friends with Lucy and they both work for Poise Magazine. She also finds Matty’s address and races to Greenwich Village where the adult Matt, a struggling photographer, is unable to fill in her missing past. Jenna then realizes that she became one of the popular girls after her birthday party, and stopped talking to Matt since that day.
Jenna struggles trying to navigate through adult life, but her slowly emerging past reveals that the adult Jenna stole ideas, refused to speak to her parents, and had sex with a co-worker’s husband. Poise is forced to redesign, and Jenna overhears Lucy bad mouthing her, planning to cut Jenna out of her redesign presentation. She then goes and asks Matt to help her with a photoshoot for her own redesign idea, which was a success.
Looking for Matt to deliver the good news, Jenna finds Wendy, who reveals their wedding is the next day. Richard informs Jenna that Lucy gave Jenna’s material, including Matt’s photographs, to Sparkle and has become their new editor-in-chief, effectively killing Poise. Jenna confronts Lucy, who scornfully reveals that she discovered Jenna was the one sabotaging her own magazine; Lucy merely stole the job Jenna was to receive.
Jenna rushes to Matt’s childhood home, next door to hers, where the wedding will soon be underway. Finding Matt, she declares that she is not the bad person she seemed to be, and that he would marry her if he could see who she really was. Matt, already in his tuxedo, tells her they cannot turn back time, but reveals the pink dollhouse he has kept for 17 years. In tears, Jenna asks for it back, and Matt sadly confesses that he always loved her. Jenna sits with the dollhouse as the wedding begins, and sees a young Matt and herself inside. She shuts her eyes, and specks of the wishing dust whirl around her.
Opening her eyes, Jenna finds herself back in 1987 on her 13th birthday. This time, when Matty finds her alone in the closet, she kisses him. With this second chance, Jenna and Matt emerge in 2004 as a newly married couple. They move into their new pink house, similar to the dreamhouse Matt made for Jenna.

Frustrated with her life, Jenna tearfully wishes she was 30 on her 13th birthday. Waking up the next morning to see her wish came true, Jenna must learn how to cope through adulthood as she struggles to figure out what past events lead to her future now as a 30 year old.

description words: confusion, confidence, wishes, magazine, lively, love