Freaky Friday (2003)
Directed by Mark Waters
Written by Heather Hach, Leslie Dixon
Starring Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Harold Gould, Chad Michael Murray, Mark Harmon
Release Date August 6th, 2003
Published August 6th, 2003
1976's Freaky Friday preceded a craze for body switching movies in the 1980's. Remember Fred Savage and Judge Reinhold in Vice Versa? George Burns and Charlie Schlatter in 18 Again? And horror of horrors Kirk Cameron and Dudley Moore in Like Father Like Son. Most recently Rob Schneider pulled off the trick in The Hot Chick. So, history was solidly against the new Freaky Friday starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan.
Dr. Tess Coleman (Curtis) seems to have everything in her life working like clockwork, a thriving psychiatric practice, a book deal and her fiancé Ryan (Mark Harmon). Everything is good except for her difficult teen daughter Anna (Lohan) who is struggling in school, dresses from a thrift store and spends her time playing in a rock band in the family garage.
Anna is also unhappy about Tess's fiancé and upcoming wedding. Unfortunately, Tess is too busy to notice. Everything finally comes to a head between mother and daughter when Anna asks to skip the wedding rehearsal to play in a battle of the bands. Mom says no, leading to a screaming match at a Chinese restaurant. The mother of the owner of the restaurant is one of those oddly beatific old Asian women that exist only in Hollywood to dispense supernatural advice and/or meddling. In this case, the old women uses some mystical fortune cookies to teach mother and daughter how difficult each other’s lives are.
The next morning, the freaky Friday of the title, Mom and daughter have switched bodies and it couldn't happen at a worse time. Anna has an important test and a burgeoning flirtation with a boy that mom would not approve of, Jake played by Jake Murray. Meanwhile, Mom has a patient she absolutely must see and a big surprise from Ryan, who also is her book editor. After visiting the restaurant again and consulting the fortunes from the cookies, they find that the only way to reverse the switch is through learning to understand each other.
That may sound hokey, and it is, but Director Mark S. Waters has some surprises along the way that leaven the potential after-school special moments. A funny script by first timer Heather Hach and two excellent lead actresses help Waters deliver a family movie that avoids the treacly pitfalls of most non-animated family films.
Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday has the best role she's had since True Lies and she tears into it with the same fervor and imagination. She shifts from uptight adult to slacker teen in a perfectly natural manner. Unlike a Judge Reinhold or Dudley Moore from those awful 80's body switch movies, Curtis never embarrasses herself. There are a couple of uncomfortable over the top moments but considering the circumstance of the story that’s easily forgiven. As for Lohan, she doesn't pull of the switch quite as well as Curtis but she is game enough to get through the rough spots and earns and maintains audience sympathy through the body swap and back.
I honestly expected to hate this film, not just based on the history of films with similar stories, but also because it's yet another Disney retread. Whether it's recycling their theme park rides or betraying their animated library with awful straight to video sequels, Disney has shown a distinct lack of creativity. However, that lack of new ideas has yielded Pirates of the Caribbean, possibly the summers best film, and now this remake. Freaky Friday is a surprisingly, or maybe even shockingly, funny family film. It's seems Disney at least has the brains to hire creative people even if the ideas and stories are less than creative.
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