Film: "13 Going On 30"; Starring Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer; Directed by Gary Winick.

You know how it is when you are 13? Jenna Rink wants to just be cool. She takes her nice next-door neighbour Matt for granted, sneers at her nice parents and runs after the 'Cool 6' gang in school -- six ultra-bitchy girls

Then, on her 13th birthday, something happens. Jenna wakes up to find she's 30.

Sounds corny and predictable? Well, not quite. Director Gary Winick, who once upon a time made a gruesome murder thriller "Out Of The Rain", manages to pick on an over-cute theme and turn it into just-cute.

The film flows with a certain bridled energy. While the parts about the super-elite bitches' club remind us of that Alicia Silverstone starrer "Clueless", the foamy fantasia formula flows in the second-half with a florid subtlety to make scathing comments on social climbing, true love and the basic values of life that outlast the temporary lure of the consumer era.

There are also some excessively catty and enjoyable comments on the dog-eat-dog world of the publishing business. The entire bustle of corporate culture is ably captured in the finely assembled frames. 

The liberal use of the 1980s' songs, dances and other fads of contemporary urban lifestyles adds a lip-smacking lustre to what could easily have been an exercise in trite filmmaking.

At its heart, "13 Going On 30" is a genealogical exchange comedy where Jenna transforms into a 30-year-old glam-goddess who discovers she's got it all when all she actually wants is the boy next door Matt (Mark Ruffalo).

The scenes featuring Jennifer Garner and Ruffalo - remember him in that excellent film "You Can Count On Me" on sibling bonding? - have a quaint rippling effect to them, as though the director has taken hold of convention and patted it in place like a slightly-slumped cushion on a sofa.

The performances are all a wee over-the-top, generating heat that helps create a feeling of imminent energy. Garner's on-screen chemistry with Ruffalo is far more toned down than with Ben Affleck in "Daredevil". But that's deliberate.

"13 Going On 30" tells us it isn't the thrill but the feeling underscoring a relationship that rescues a bonding from breaking into brittle pieces.