Review: "Freakier Friday"

Disney’s original comedy film “Freaky Friday” was released back in 1976. It starred Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. Following the enormously successful remake in 2003, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, the 1976 version of “Freaky Friday” became a Trivia Quiz footnote.

The chemistry of Curtis and Lohan was pure movie magic, catapulting “Freaky Friday” to the status of other modern comedy classics like “Clueless” (1985) starring Alicia Silverstone, and “Mean Girls” (2004), which also starred the very talented Lindsay Lohan.

The premise of “Freaky Friday” involved a mother and daughter swapping identities following a trip to a Chinese restaurant and a mysterious spell that hilariously turned the strained mother-daughter relationship upside down. Each had to struggle to try be the other person, until the spell could somehow be broken. Both had to learn what it was like to walk in the other person’s shoes, seeing the world from a radically different perspective.

The widowed mom (Jamie Lee Curtis) was forced to see what it was like to be back in high school with nasty, backstabbing classmates, mean teachers and endless detentions.  The daughter (Lindsay Lohan) had to deal with the pressures of parenthood and a job as a respected therapist, in addition to the stress of her rapidly approaching remarriage. 

Curtis and Lohan took full advantage of the challenge to play opposite characters, playing the roles to perfection. The movie’s screenplay was solid, the direction was first-rate, and the supporting characters rounded out what amounted to a dream team.

“Freaky Friday” still stands the test of time, some 22 years later. It is a movie worth seeing and a movie worthy of a repeated viewing for those who haven’t seen it in a while. It is a gem.

Like many successful movie comedies, it left audiences clamoring for more, something easier said than done. Resurrecting and updating a successful comedy from the past can be a tall order, as we have seen recently with the release of the new “Naked Gun,” that served up all the gags but failed to make the cash registers at the box office ring. 

Unlike “Naked Gun” which had a new cast of characters played by new actors, “Freakier Friday” brought back Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan and other familiar supporting cast members who had all aged over two decades since the first film. It was a gutsy, time-warp move.

This time around, Lohan’s character Anna is a single mom with a daughter of her own (Harper) played by Julia Butters.  Curtis (Tess) is now a grandmother helping to co-parent Harper, who, like her mom in the past, is having problems at her high school.  Her biggest problem is that her obnoxious British classmate (Lily) is the daughter of the man that her mom is planning to marry.

As in the original film, things are a mess—a mess that gets mathematically worse when a fortune teller (Vanessa Bayer) casts a spell that switches the souls of mom and daughter as well as the souls of grandma and Harper’s nemesis Lily. 

It’s a brilliant plot device that expands the story to the next level, doubling the soul swapping of the original tale.  While it may take audiences a little while to adjust to who’s who, the twist more than doubles the laugh quotient.

As it turns out the swapping—intended to be a life lesson—isn’t entirely bad. Tess, in the younger body of Lily discovers that she can gorge on sweets and bend over without farting.  Harper and Lily, in the bodies of Tess and Anna are now able to max out credit cards at boutiques and drive cars, though their skills are sorely and insanely lacking.

Remarkably, the basic storylines of “Freaky Friday” and “Freakier Friday” are incredibly similar, yet different enough to remain engaging and funny in a whole new way.

Fans of the first installment will enjoy the return of the Anna’s high school rock band Pink Slip, but perhaps the biggest treat is the return of Anna’s hunk of a heartthrob boyfriend, Jake (Chad Michael Murray). There are other surprises. No further spoilers.

While everyone has aged in this sequel, they have all aged well. The chemistry and connections are all intact. The new characters blend in seamlessly.

Making a worthy sequel to any successful movie, particularly a successful movie comedy is a risky business.  Many (like “Ghostbusters II”) have tried and failed, miserably.

It’s noteworthy that the new writers and new director (Nisha Ganatra) were able to salvage all things that worked in the previous movie, adding some complexity and freshness that updated the story, with some inclusive tweaks, and raised the bar.  In a rare instance, they created a sequel that rivaled a beloved fan favorite film—one that is arguably even freakier and funnier than the first.  

Both are well worth seeing.

“Freakier Friday” is rated PG.