Seventeen Again

Seventeen Again
DVD cover
Directed by	Jeffrey W. Byrd
Produced by	Brandon Bates Darlene Mowry Stewart St. John
Written by	Stewart St. John
Starring	Tia Mowry Tamera Mowry-Housley Mark Taylor Tahj Mowry Hope Clarke
Music by	Christopher Franke Shawn Stockman
Cinematography	John P. Tarver
Edited by	Jeffrey Cooper
Production company	Tri-Ess Productions
Distributed by	Showtime Networks
Release date	November 12, 2000
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Seventeen Again is a fantasy–comedy film. It first aired on Showtime on November 12, 2000, and was released on DVD on April 9, 2002. The film was also included as a bonus feature on the Sister, Sister Complete Collection box set released in March 2016. Directed by Jeffrey W. Byrd, it stars Tia & Tamera, and their brother Tahj Mowry.

Plot

When the Donovan family moves from California to Connecticut, 17-year-old Sydney (Tia Mowry) finds it is not easy being in a new town away from her old friends. However, she soon develops a crush on a classmate while trying to compete with his older sister, Ashley (Maia Campbell), who dislikes her and criticizes her anyway she can. Her 12-year-old genius brother Willie (Tahj Mowry) is happy as long as he can tinker in his lab with his increasingly complex experiments. When another experiment goes wrong, their father, Barry, bans him from making more experiments in his lab until he learns responsibility. Willie is convinced he can defeat the aging process, and while devising an experimental anti-aging formula, he accidentally spills some on a bar of soap.

When his grandmother Cat (Hope Clarke) mistakenly uses the tainted soap, she's transformed into a 17-year-old (Tamera Mowry). Her ex-husband Gene (Robert Hooks) follows suit, and is also returned to his teenaged self (Mark Taylor).

Cat and Gene are having a fine time reliving their youth and enjoying the thrill of teenage romance, but there's a fly in the ointment. Willie learns his formula could have deadly side effects, and now he must discover an antidote to return his grandparents to their older but healthy bodies. Through their experience as teenagers again Gene and Cat realize they are still in love with each other but Cat is reluctant to believe Gene’s feelings are genuine as she is still heartbroken that he chose to leave her for a job in Australia 20 years ago, the reason for their divorce.

In Sydney's room, she and Cat finally have a long and heartfelt talk. Sydney admits she's homesick for California and her old friends. She hates Connecticut and the bullying she is subjected to by Ashley and her friends because Ashley's brother, Todd, is interested in her. During that time, Cat admits her earlier experience with Ashley. However unlike Sydney, she was able to stand up to Ashley and earn her begrudging respect. Meanwhile, Gene who has had time to reflect on his life choices realizes his mistake of leaving his family and bids farewell to his life as a teenager and the friends he has made, and goes to the dance with Ashley in hopes of reconciling with Cat.

Meanwhile at the dance, Sydney and Cat arrive and find Gene with Ashley. Gene and Cat share a dance where they reconcile, before Cat passes out due to the side effects of the soap. Willie arrives with the antidote as Gene carries Cat to the school’s pool. Ashley, furious that Gene ditched her for Cat, cuts them off before they can save her. Sydney finally stands up to Ashley and decks her for insulting Cat. As she and Willie leave to save their grandparents, everyone applauds Sydney for giving Ashley what she deserved. Willie tosses the antidote in the pool and Gene and Cat jump in. Gene asks Cat to marry him again after their crazy experience. Cat says yes, but then the happiness is interrupted by Sydney and Willie's parents, Barry and Monique, coming home from a trip. The parents are surprised to see Cat and Gene reconciled and Monique tells him that they should let the to babysit next time. Sydney asks Monique if she could help with the wedding plans and she agrees. A call comes in and Willie calls for Barry who tells him that he's in the shower with the soap. Of course, Sydney and Willie now have to stop their father from using the soap.

Cast

• Tia Mowry as Sydney Donovan
• Tahj Mowry as Willie Donovan
• Hope Clarke as Grandma Catherine "Cat" Donovan
  • Tamera Mowry as young Grandma Catherine "Cat" Donovan
• Robert Hooks as Grandpa Eugene "Gene" Donovan
  • Mark Taylor as young Grandpa Eugene "Gene" Donovan
• Merwin Mondesir as Todd
• Phillip Jarrett as Barry Donovan
• Tonya Lee Williams as Monique Donovan
• Maia Campbell as Ashley
• Daryn Jones as Terrance
• Novie Edwards as Julie

Production notes

Seventeen Again was executive produced by Boyz II Men member Shawn Stockman. Stockman also served as the film's music composer.

Seventeen Again was filmed on location in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school scenes were filmed at Eastern High School.

Awards and nominations

Reception

Seventeen Again has a 6.3/10 rating on the Internet Movie Database.

External links

• Seventeen Again at AllMovie
• Seventeen Again on IMDb