18 Again! is a Comedy Fantasy movie by Paul Flaherty.
Jack Watson (George Burns) is an 80-going-on-81-year-old playboy businessman who's lived a long life and has a lot to show for it: a son Artie (Tony Roberts) working for him, an 18-year-old grandson David (Charlie Schlatter) who's part of his old alma mater, and even in his old fraternity, and a beautiful girlfriend in Madeline (Anita Morris). What more could he want?
Why, to be 18 again, of course.
On the night of his 81st birthday, Jack makes a big speech about how he wishes he could turn back the clock on his life to 18 and relive it, then blows out the candles on his cake. Then, when David is driving Jack somewhere else so they can get some real food in their stomachs, their car swerves and gets into an accident.
Jack manages to come to in the hospital bed, and begins wondering why everyone is treating him differently. Then he sees his body in the bed next to his, and sees he's now in David's body. Overjoyed at the prospect, Jack decides to go out and be young again. On the way, he soon begins learning things about his family and the people in his life that he had no idea about.
The movie was released on April 8th, 1988.
18 Again! contains examples of:
- Exact Words: At the start of the movie, David asks his friend to give him the paint. He gets a whole bucket of red paint in his face.David: Now the bucket.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: A variation on this trope, anyway. Jack ends up in the body of his 18-year-old grandson, while he believes David to be in his body. However, since "Jack" is in a coma, and doesn't come out of it until his soul returns to his body, we don't really know for sure.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Frat Jerk Jock sees hero with girlfriend. Hero asks "sorry, did you want to dance?" Frat Jerk says 'no', and does a spin kick/badass pose. Hero: "I thought you said you didn't want to dance!", then fights him old-school fisticuffs style.
- Homework Slave: David is forced to write term papers for his upperclassman frat brothers. Later on at a pep rally, he throws the papers he wrote one-by-one into the bonfire.
- Public Exposure: Jack attends one of David's classes, which he discovers is a figure drawing class when he sees a female model get naked for it, much to his excitement.
- Something Only They Would Say: How Jack manages to convince his friend Charlie that he is who he is, by telling him things only the two of them would know. It takes a bit, but eventually Charlie comes around.
- Titled After the Song: George Burns' 1980 country hit “I Wish I Was Eighteen Again”, which is featured in the film.
- Voices Are Not Mental: When Jack is in David's body, he still speaks in David's voice, just now with his own speech impediment. His mental voice, though, is still that of the 81-year-old Jack Watson.
