18 Again! Information

18 Again! is a 1988 comedy film starring George Burns and Charlie Schlatter. The plot involves a grandson switching souls with his grandfather by means of an accident. This was one of a series of unrelated films, including Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa, and the Italian film Da grande, produced in the late 1980s involving a similar plotline.

Plot

Jack Watson (George Burns) is a millionaire playboy who is about to turn 81 just as his grandson David (Charlie Schlatter) is about to turn 18. Jack laments his old age and wishes to get back to his teens once more. When an accident switches their souls, Jack gets to live his grandson's life and all that it entails: school, sports and romance. Unfortunately, David gets the raw end of the deal: as not only is he trapped in his grandfather's 81-year-old body, but he is also in a coma. The only one who knows the truth is his longtime friend Charlie (Red Buttons), whom Jack was able to convince by recounting experiences only they knew.

Jack gets to approach his family from a fresh point of view and doesn't always like what he sees: he's been a distant parent for his son Arnie (Tony Roberts) and has repeatedly disregarded his ideas for improving the family company. The college fraternity that he coerced David into joining (his old alma mater) is bullying him on a regular basis and forcing him to write their test finals for them. He also finds out that his trophy wife Madeline (Anita Morris) is unfaithful when she tries to seduce him, whom she thinks is her young step-grandson. Deciding to set things right, Jack in David's body decides to take charge by convincing his father (or rather, Jack's son) to implement his ideas on the family busines and uses his poker playing skills to beat the frat boys. Jack also impresses a girl named Robin, who is taken with David's old-fashioned style with bow ties and his vividly recounting the Second World War and meeting President Truman.

However, Jack realizes too late that he has willed everything to Madeline, who convinces Arnie and his wife to disconnect Jack's 81-year-old body from life support. Knowing that this will kill David, Jack and Charlie rush to the hospital to save him, wheeling Jack's body away from an angry Madeline and a perplexed Arnie. When they crash in the hospital chapel, Jack and David's minds are returned to their rightful bodies, and Jack awakens. Jack still has unfinished business, as in David's body he challenged the fraternity president to a race, and now David must face him. Jack gives David a pep talk, and David beats the frat president. Jack then encourages David to pursue an interested Robin. In private, Jack tells Arnie that his greatest mistake was trying to get him and David to relive his own life, and encourages Arnie to nurture David's interest in art, which Jack will do as well by getting David involved in the graphic design aspect of the family business. Finally, Jack confronts Madeline by saying she knows that she made a pass at David, and that he has rewritten his will to include his family and his faithful butler Horton (Bernard Fox), whom he promptly orders to have Madeline thrown out. As Robin and David start their relationship, Jack starts a new one with Robin's widowed grandmother.

Cast

• George Burns - Jack Watson
• Charlie Schlatter - David Watson/Jack Watson
• Tony Roberts - Arnold 'Arnie' Watson
• Miriam Flynn - Betty Watson
• Red Buttons - Charlie
• Anita Morris - Madeline
• Pauly Shore - Barrett
• Jennifer Runyon - Robin Morrison
• Earl Boen - Robin's Dad
• Toni Sawyer - Robin's Mom
• Stephanie Baldwin - Robin's Sister
• Anthony Starke - Russ Deacon
• Kenneth Tigar - Professor Swivet
• Bernard Fox - Horton the Butler
• Pat Crawford Brown - Old Lady
• Nancy Fox - Rita the Waitress
• Hal Smith - Irv
• Benny Baker - Red

Reception

Roger Ebert gives the film a score of 1 and a half out of 4. He compares it to Like Father Like Son and Vice Versa, calling Vice Versa the best of the three. by far. Janet Maslin was critical of the film for leaving George Burns in a coma when he is what audience have come to see, and says that it "isn't successfully aimed at anyone in particular".