13: The Musical goes from the Broadway stage to the Netflix screen, and the streaming service made the show a man! I don’t know what that means, but basically, I am saying they did an excellent job with it.
Evan Goldman (Eli Golden) is so excited about his Bar Mitzvah in NYC that he can’t wait for the big day. The only problem, his parents recently divorced, and his mom (Debra Messing) is moving him back to Indiana to live with her mother (Rhea Perlman).
Now, his plans for the perfect Bar Mitzvah are ruined because he doesn’t know anyone there. That is until he meets outcast Patrice (Gabriella Uhl). She spends the whole summer hanging around with him, and they become best friends.
However, on the first day of school, that changes when he tries to become friends with popular kids Kendra (Lindsey Blackwell), Brett (JD McCrary), and Lucy (Frankie McNellis). They immediately take a liking to him, and he leaves Patrice behind.
Let’s talk about his new friends. Lucy is best friends with Kendra. Kendra and Brett like each other and spent the summer writing back and forth. Lucy didn’t know, and she has a crush on Brett. Lucy will do anything to get Brett.
Kendra and Brett have never kissed, and Evan comes up with a plan for them to lock lips. When Lucy finds out about his plan, she tells Evan if they kiss, no one will go to his Bar Mitzvah. Now, he has to decide what to do.
What will Evan do? Will he get his perfect Bar Mitzvah? You just have to sing and dance with him and his friends to find out!
I love musicals, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Netflix did a really great job producing it, so it feels like it was created more for the big screen than the little one.
Plus, all of the kids delivered. You forget you are watching young teens starring in this coming-of-age musical.
This is the perfect film that you can enjoy with the whole family. I can’t wait to watch it with my nieces, one of whom is 13. And now I have the song stuck in my head again. Oh yeah, be prepared to have all of the songs stuck in your head for days! And that is not a bad thing.
