Rating: 
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Grade: B+
To quote the classic disco anthem, Le Freak, “big fun to be had by everyone.” And in the case of Disney’s Freaky Friday, this couldn’t be more true. The Mouse House has been overwhelmingly successful in creating cross-demographic hits this summer, as Finding Nemo is finding a place on the all-time charts, and Pirates of the Caribbean has anchored itself in the top five. Freaky Friday has generational humor that kids and parents alike can enjoy, and should quality film making equate financial success as ‘Pirates’ and ‘Nemo’ may suggest, then Freaky Friday should be prepared to takes its place next to Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Nemo as a financial hit.
Many have seen the original Freaky Friday, which starred Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster and many more have read the classic young adult novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers. For anyone who doesn’t fall into either group, an explanation will certainly be needed. Tess and Anna Coleman are typical mother and daughter, that is to say, always at each other’s throats. On a Thursday evening while at a Chinese restaurant, their bickering reaches a climax: Tess is soon to re-marry, and is angry that Anna won’t warm up to her fiance, and Anna is enraged that her mother is condescending towards her musical desires. Things become freaky when mother and daughter are given two identical fortune cookies. When they wake up the next morning, they have switches bodies! Anna must live Tess’ life and Tess much live Anna’s life for one truly freaky Friday, and in the process perhaps grow a deeper understanding of each other.
In the past, any live-action movie whose moniker begins with “Disney’s” or “Walt Disney Presents” has sent me running for the hills. When I think of a Disney live-action feature I immediately imagine something as nightmare inducing as last year’s The Country Bears. Every once and a while though, Disney can still surprise us with a feature that doesn’t rely as much on stock cliches, and doesn’t cross the line that separates cute from embarrassingly sappy. Such is the case with this update of Freaky Friday. Although we have seen “body switching” plot line has been used before (ironically, it was the original Freaky Friday in 1976 which introduced this idea), the material never feels old as director Mark Waters deftly crafts a successful mixture of broad comedy and more traditional “Disney” values.
The same compliments can not be rendered to the character development, though. The dynamic between mother and daughter is one of safety; we have seen the “organized mother” and “band-fronting daughter” characters before. This makes for two dimensional characters that work only because they have in the past. Thankfully, Waters’ keeps the running time at a brisk 95 minutes, so as to never have the characters overstay their welcome.
You can talk Freaky Friday’s screenplay to death, but when it all boils down its obvious that you are left with something worthy of little fanfare. Its the performances which simply illuminate Freaky Friday, and make the movie sparkle. Jamie Lee Curtis takes a break from her steady paycheck of “Halloween” cameos, and proves to a new generation that she really can act. Charming is not strong enough to describe her performance. Lindsay Lohan surprised me years back with her update of another film, The Parent Trap (another rare Disney surprise) and shows me once again what a charismatic actress she is. Together, the two make one of the most delightful mother-daughter duos I have seen in several years.
When topical issues are force fed to a young audience, it can make their accompanying parents role their eyes and grimace. There are serious themes in Freaky Friday (a parent’s remarriage), but Waters’ never patronizes his audience, which one of the great things about this movie. Combine this with two perfect performances, and you have something that is far from freaky, a true family classic.
© 2003 Jacob Sproul
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