When one thinks of a family film, "corny" and "cheesy" are words that often come to mind. Viewers are in for a welcome surprise, however, when they go to see Disney's new version of the 1976 hit "Freaky Friday." While the trend for most summer blockbusters is action, suspense and mind-boggling special effects, Freaky Friday proves to be a breath of fresh air with its quick wit and comic relief. What's more, the film passes the true test of a good family film: you can watch it without a child and still be entertained.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan play the sparring mother and daughter who switch bodies for a day (via charmed fortune cookies) and thereby gain mutual respect for the old "walk a mile in my shoes" theory. Of course, they could call in sick -- but then there wouldn't be a movie.
The material here is not exactly the freshest -- this is in fact the third version of the movie made by Disney, and the premise is based on the book under the same title by Mary Rodgers. Thanks to snappy dialogue, however, the lack of originality can be forgiven. Screenwriters Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon have buffed the dialogue until it sparkles, and all of the actors are at the top of their game.
For starters, Hach and Dixon traded the suburban stay-at-home-mom for a widowed, working mom named Tess, a psychologist who thinks she has all the answers until she has to face high school in her daughter's body. Meanwhile, her daughter, Anna, is a frustrated member of a rock band who wants to take charge of her life until she's in her mom's body and realizes she's not as ready as she thought.
As if switching bodies isn't enough chaos for one day, the tension mounts even further as Tess prepares for a Saturday wedding to her fiance, Ryan (Mark Harmon). Will they return to themselves in time to get the right bride in the right dress?Granted, this isn't exactly the edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting suspense you're probably used to, but perhaps that in itself is what is so great about the film.
In the end, everything gets tied up in a bow (this is Disney, after all): Mother and daughter learn new respect for each other in time for one to get married and the other to make peace with her stepfather while getting to that House of Blues audition (on every level, this is an only-in-L.A. movie). In other words, "Freaky Friday" is soothingly safe for moms and daughters everywhere, free of any sort of subversion.
Both Curtis and Lohan display their remarkable talent so that the audience never becomes lost, nor ever has issue with understanding who is who. It's also a kick to watch the actors play against their age, bringing back memories of what Tom Hanks was able to do as the teen-in-the-adult-body in "Big."
Curtis, always a gifted comedian, revels in the freedom of letting her inner-teen out. Her mannerisms are particularly hilarious -- especially when she sits restlessly, wrapping and shifting her legs under her when she's supposed to be doing a television interview. Lohan is equally hilarious, exuding a prissy, I'm-in-control radar when she's the mom in the teen's body -- adjusting her friends' shirts so they cover their navels and trying to use adult thinking to fix her daughter's problems in school, without a clue of the issues' complications.
Of course, the film is still a family movie, and therefore does have its occasional corny moment. Thankfully, these moments are few and far between and soon forgotten in the fast-paced comedy that surround them.
Indeed, this is a rare case of a remake actually surpassing the original. It's less labored and smarter than the first, and doesn't end with a car-chase pileup, as did seemingly every Disney comedy in the 1970s. As a side note, fans of the first will get a kick out of a cameo by Marc McClure, who played Boris in the original and also plays a character named Boris in this version.
So, what's the bottom line?If you are looking for a refreshing comedy that everyone will enjoy, "Freaky Friday" is the movie for you.
Rating:4 stars
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