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Try Seventeen

Try Seventeen

Comedy · Romance · Drama · 2002

Teenager Jones has opted not to go to college and is instead renting a room in a boarding house to work on his writing skills. Soon, Jones finds himself dividing his time between two women: a young actress named Lisa and a photographer named Jane. After Jane's ex-boyfriend arrives to help her recover from a car accident, Jones begins to understand just how much he cares for her.

Movie details

Try Seventeen

“You're only seventeen once. For Jones Dillon, it's one time too many.”

2002 Comedy · Romance · Drama 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

Teenager Jones has opted not to go to college and is instead renting a room in a boarding house to work on his writing skills. Soon, Jones finds himself dividing his time between two women: a young actress named Lisa and a photographer named Jane. After Jane's ex-boyfriend arrives to help her recover from a car accident, Jones begins to understand just how much he cares for her.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Try Seventeen?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jeffrey Porter

Written by

Charles Kephart

Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood

Jones

Franka Potente

Franka Potente

Jane

Mandy Moore

Mandy Moore

Lisa

Debbie Harry

Debbie Harry

Ma Mabley

Elizabeth Perkins

Elizabeth Perkins

Blanche

Chris William Martin

Chris William Martin

Steve

Aaron Pearl

Aaron Pearl

Brad

Court is in session

Put Try Seventeen on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.