Freaky Friday (2003)

Freaky Friday (2003)

7/10

Starring

Jamie Lee Curtis

Lindsay Lohan

Directed by Mark Waters

It is not often this happens, but I prefer the remake to the original. They gave the swapping a bogus background story and added to it a clause for the switch to revert, which the original did not do. The acting of Jamie Lee Curtis in this movie matches that of Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris in the original. Which is why Curtis like them earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress, for her fantastic performance.

The movie is interesting, funny and unlike the original where the two never met when the switch happened, here they met a lot which made the movie more interesting. This is because you get to watch the dynamics of their behavior towards one another, which gave the movie another level.

It was interesting watching how they handled the switch in front of other people and seeing Curtis being all childish and respectful in her character towards her daughter.

It starts with us seeing the broken relationship between the mother Tess (Curtis) and her daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan). They never seem to get along and Tess has been all caught up trying to make a life for herself as a single mother and a Psychiatrist. Even with the load of work and writing a book Tess is delusional that she is a fully attentive mother to her daughter, Anna. Anna on the other hand is a drama queen who instead of sharing how she really feels about things would rather just avoid it and act out.

Tess is about to get married again, and Anna is not expressing how she feels about it. During a dinner at a Chinese restaurant, they both went at it, saying the other has a better life and less reason to complain. When they were alone they were approached by the owner’s mother who gave them each a fortune cookie, when they opened it, they was a sudden quake. When they woke up the next morning they have swapped bodies.

Tess’ wedding is in two days and Anna also has an exam coming up. The two were not in the right frame of mind before the swoop and this has made it worse. We get to see without a choice how they handle the switch and make life better for one another.

The movie is based on a 1972 book of the same name by Mary Rodgers and in this movie, Disney shelved Rodgers original screenplay. They opted for the lady who worked on Legally Blonde Heather Hatch and Leslie Dixon of Mrs. Doubtfire. The two penned a screenplay that got an award nomination.

The movie was a critical success and when it came to the box office numbers, it did just as good as the original.

This movie is one I can re-watch and not get tired of the antics. The movie is a good comedy for you to see with your family.