Freaky Friday

From AwardAnnals

Reviews

Amazon.com

In the wonderfully entertaining Freaky Friday, teenager Anna (Lindsay Lohan) and her forty-something psychiatrist mom Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) have sunk into a rut of frustrated bickering—until a magic spell causes them to switch bodies. Suddenly Tess finds herself faced with petty teachers, vicious rivals, and a hunky boy, while Anna has to cope with her mother’s neurotic patients as well as her befuddled fiance (Mark Harmon), who doesn’t understand why his bride-to-be is suddenly recoiling from his embrace on the eve of their wedding. Both Lohan and Curtis turn in deft, delightful performances, with Curtis showing a surprising flair for physical comedy. The movie even manages to explore serious issues about fractured families, new parents, and adolescent sexuality with honesty and empathy—and without making the story stop dead in its tracks. It’s a mother-daughter film that fathers and sons can enjoy just as much. —Bret Fetzer

Barnes and Noble

Barnes & Noble

Based on Mary Rogers’s popular book and filmed twice previously for Disney, Freaky Friday underscores the need for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to take its cue from the Golden Globes and recognize performances in a comedy. Jamie Lee Curtis brings all her exuberance to her liberating role as Tess, a stressed-out single mom juggling her psychiatric practice, the promotion of her new book, her impending wedding, and her two children—her mischievous son, Jake, and 15-year-old garage rocker, Anna (Lindsay Lohan of The Parent Trap). Tess does not appreciate Anna’s musical aspirations, while Anna resents her soon-to-be stepdad (Mark Harmon). One fateful night at a Chinese restaurant, the hostess notices them arguing and gives each a very special fortune cookie with a cryptic fortune. The next morning, Tess and Anna awake in each other’s bodies and must learn respect for the other’s perspective in order to break the spell. Lohan hits all the right notes playing a buttoned-up adult in teen clothing. But Curtis, whether fending off one of Anna’s classmates with a “Stacy’s Mom” crush, or rocking out backstage during her daughter’s concert audition, hasn’t been this funny onscreen since A Fish Called Wanda. Not for mothers and daughters only, the smart and satisfying Freaky Friday is both one of 2003’s surprise box office hits and one of the year’s best live-action family films. And while some may fondly recall the 1976 version starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris, or even the 1995 TV version featuring Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffman, it’s clear that the third time’s the charm with this material. Donald Liebenson