On May 26, 1987, Jenna Rink (), an unpopular girl, celebrates her 13th birthday. She especially wants to join the "Six Chicks", a school led by Lucy "Tom-Tom" Wyman (), who takes advantage of Jenna's desire to fit in by manipulating her into doing a school assignment. Before her birthday party, Jenna's best friend Matty Flamhaff () gives her a doll dream house that he built for her and a packet of "magic wishing dust", which he sprinkles on the house.
Tom-Tom and the rest of the six chicks show up at Jenna's party where they play a cruel on her during a game of "". Jenna, mistakenly thinking Matt was responsible, barricades herself in the closet where she put the Dream House. She cries and rocks backs and forth, bumping into the wall, wishing to be "30, flirty, and thriving". The wishing dust from the dollhouse sprinkles on her, causing her to fall asleep. The next morning, Jenna awakens as a 30-year-old woman () living in a apartment. It is now 2004, and Jenna has no memory of the 17 years that have passed since her 13th birthday.
30-year old Jenna's best friend, Lucy (), drives her to her work office, where Jenna discovers that she works for Poise, her favorite fashion magazine from when she was a teenager. Missing her best friend from 1987, Jenna asks her assistant to track down Matt. To her dismay, Jenna learns she and "Matty" have been estranged since when Jenna fell in with the in-crowd and became best friends with Tom-Tom, who now goes by her real name Lucy. Matt () is now a struggling photographer who's engaged.
After Jenna overhears Lucy badmouthing her to a co-worker, she realizes that what she thought she wanted wasn't important. She has lost almost all contact with her parents and is having an affair with the husband of a colleague. Not only is she generally hated by her co-workers, she is suspected of giving her magazine's ideas to a rival publication,Sparkle. Jenna realizes that the person she has become is neither trustworthy nor likable and begins to reverse the situation by distancing herself from her new, shallow boyfriend.
She heads back to her hometown in New Jersey and hides in the same closet as 17 years before and cries. Her parents return and find her hiding, and they welcome her in for the night. The next day, she reminisces by looking through school and other items from her school days and catches up on the 17 years she doesn't remember. Over several outings and working together on a magazine project, Jenna becomes friends with Matt again, asking his help for her project. Although Matt is engaged and Jenna has a boyfriend, they kiss.
After arranging a magazine photo shoot with Matt, then making a presentation for a revamp for Poise, Jenna gets bad news from the publisher: Poise is shutting down because the work she put into the relaunch ended up in Sparkle. Jenna learns from Lucy that she was responsible for sabotaging Poise by sending their material to Sparkle for months. When Lucy had earlier learned this, she had conned Matt into signing over the photo rights from the relaunch shoot to her. Lucy was given the position of Sparkle editor-in-chief instead of Jenna.
When Jenna remembers that Matt is getting married that day, she rushes to his house and begs him to call off the wedding. Dazed, Matt realizes he loves Jenna but cannot change the past. From his closet, he pulls the "dream house" he made 17 years before, and Jenna asks for it back. Jenna leaves in tears, crying over the dream house.
Unknown to Jenna, specks of wishing dust remain on the dream house, and she silently wishes to be 13 again. When she opens her eyes, she finds herself back in the closet of the basement at her parents' house in 1987. When Matt comes to check on her, she kisses him. She also tells Tom-Tom she can be the pot and kettle all by herself, rips apart the school project and then ruins Tom-Tom's outfit by spilling punch on her. Some time later, Jenna and Matt are shown getting married and moving into a house which resembles the dollhouse.
I give it 3/5 stars
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THE Ultimate Rom-com list.
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