18 Again! (2024)

18 Again!

Another entry for this year’s body-exchange sweepstakes is “18 Again!” That is the common basis with “Like Father Like Son” and “Vice Versa,” except that it has George Burns in major role yet comes last. Every year during Oscar season, it has become a cliché to say the competition would be more meaningful if they all played the same roles. The race is not even close between these three movies; “Vice Versa” wins while the other two stumble out of their starting blocks.

But why do I use so many footrace metaphors? That’s why there are mixed breeds here. It’s a mix of two genres: an old man swaps minds and bodies with his grandson, while also inserting one of the most hackneyed endings in film The Big Race.

“18 Again!” even includes a cliché that I thought had died long ago which was admittedly as hoary as Jimmy Cagney. Is he going to win the race? Will there be stars up in the sky? Trading places between a father and son were featured in “Vice Versa” and “Like Father Like Son.” In recognition of Burns’ age, “18 Again!” arranges for him to trade places with a grandson. The generation between them is portrayed by Tony Roberts. Here’s how it goes: Burns created the family business, which Roberts now runs. Father and son never get along well possibly because Burns has never been serious about his son’s ideas. But he does love his grandson very much.

At 81st birthday party for burns, he closes his eyes and makes a wish for something else. He would like to be eighteen again with memory of power and energy associated with it. He opens them up again only to discover that indeed his wish came true; he finds himself inside his grandson’s body as Charlie Schlatter steps into his own shoes.

This kid is on his high school track team, and he’s a bit of a nerd; he doesn’t have Grandpa’s never-say-die spirit. But with Burns inside the teenage body, the kid turns into a champion, and that leads up to the big race and all of its preordained suspense.

The movie also contains other developments that are less than surprises. For example, there is the fact that changing bodies means changing girlfriends too. Anita Morris plays Burns’ mistress who does not understand what has happened to him exactly. And Jennifer Runyon is the girl on whom Gramps (Schlatter) has a crush; she likes it when he gets right to the point now that he can use his own body. Not one line spoken by either character would be considered witty or thought provoking.

The whole thing seems like an overripe fruit salad of good intentions and heartwarming sentiments. There isn’t any sharpness or sting or even brilliant silent language as in “Vice Versa.”

However, this is not about how it feels to be someone else’s skin, but rather a sitcom plot unfolding after simply throwing off this gimmick on us.

Of course, as much as Burns is a dear institution and one would jump at any chance to see him, the fact remains that he has nothing to do in the movie and does not even pretend. Since his character’s basically an old piece of cloth from his previous work and his trademark talk show lines. We get to hear him performing his 1980 tune “I Wish I Were 18 Again!,” which is delightful but also have to listen to him recite that hackneyed line about how he’d date girls his age if there were any. No serious attempt has been made to differentiate between Burns himself and the character that he assumes in this film.

When Burns was asked by producer Carl Reiner for the role of God in “Oh, God!” a stage of his career began in 1977. Thinking that he could never be able play it, he sought some insights into who God was from them but they responded with “He’s a lot like George Burns.” He may have been hearing those words too many times now though.

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