What's Your Age Again?

By Chris Kavan - 10/06/10 at 03:06 PM CT

There's nothing like totally screwing with your childhood then to be thrown into an adult body. Likewise, there's nothing better for your mid-life crisis than to be transported back to a freewheeling teenager. Sometimes, body swapping may be involved. Better yet, Hollywood never seems to get tired of this either - so here are the best movies that leave you asking Wait? How old are you again?

1) Big - Nothing like making a flippant wish and having it granted a little too literally. How would you act if you suddenly woke up as Tom Hanks where you were a regular kid the night before? But wait, being Tom Hanks has its perks, like playing a giant piano and working at a totally awesome toy company. Too bad being an adult also comes with horrible things like responsibility and you can't hug your mom any more either. In the end, it really is better to be a kid for a while longer.

2) 13 Going on 30 - This is essentially the female version of Big with a slight twist - the young girl is transported to the future where suddenly they happen to be Jennifer Gardener and in a totally respectable job. What would you do? I guess throwing out some Thriller moves and figuring out that even if your life looks perfect, it's never that easy. Classic case of never realizing what you've lost until it's gone.

3) 17 Again - Who amongst us hasn't wished we could go back and correct the mistakes of youth? But usually that actually means going back - not just regressing in age and going on with life. Zac Efron proves that a 30-something guy can still hang with the cool kids when he finds himself a teen again. Of course he learns valuable lessons about his kids (now his own age) and his ex-wife.

4) Freaky Friday - Out of all the body swapping movies, this is probably the best of the bunch. A mother and daughter swap bodies and each finds out that the others' life is not as easy as they think. And truly, it doesn't matter which version you go with, other than some updated pop culture references, it's really the same thing.

5) Vice Versa - Not as good, but twice as cheesy, you have to appreciate the closest that males can get to Freaky Friday. Some may say 18 Again is the better of the bunch, but to me nothing screams 80s like this father / son body swapping comedy. Once again, it's all about what each character learns about the other - no matter how outlandish the story.

It's only a matter of time before we see the next version of this time-honored story. Mark my words, it will be sooner rather than later before we see the next body/age swapping movie.