Freaky Friday (1976) Disney/Comedy RT: 95 minutes Rated G (one use of the word “jackass”) Director: Gary Nelson Screenplay: Mary Rodgers Music: Johnny Mandel Cinematography: Charles F. Wheeler Release date: December 17, 1976 (US) Cast: Barbara Harris, Jodie Foster, John Astin, Dick Van Patten, Patsy Kelly, Sorrell Booke, Alan Oppenheimer, Ruth Buzzi, Kaye Ballard, Marc McClure, Sparky Marcus, Marvin Kaplan, Al Molinaro, Charlene Tilton, Jimmy Van Patten. Box Office: $25.9M (US)
Rating: *** ½
The 2003 remake of Freaky Friday might have been pretty good, but my preference will always be the original 1976 movie. I loved it as a 9YO and still love it as a 45YO. It’s a funny movie! My father even thought so when he agreed to take me to see it one Sunday afternoon.
Freaky Friday also stands out in my mind as the movie that introduced me to Jodie Foster who would go on to become one of my first childhood crushes. That short list also included Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Kristy McNichol and this older girl that lived up the street.
The idea of a parent and child switching places was a fresh concept back in ’76. Those of us who came of age in the 80s might remember that period between late ’87 and early ’88 when no less than four movies covered the same idea. It’s a period that I like to call “Invasion of the Body Switchers”. Between September and June, we got Like Father, Like Son (Dudley Moore/Kirk Cameron), Vice Versa (Judge Reinhold/Fred Savage), 18 Again (George Burns/Charlie Schlatter) and Big (Tom Hanks/David Moscow). A more recent example of the body switch comedy is 13 Going on 30 (2004) starring Jennifer Garner. Freaky Friday is the one that started it all and it still remains the best of them.
Like every other mother and teenage daughter, Ellen (Harris, The North Avenue Irregulars) and 13YO Annabel (Foster, Taxi Driver) don’t agree on anything. Ellen constantly criticizes her daughter for everything- her clothes, her hair, her room, her personal hygiene and steady diet of junk food. It doesn’t help that her younger brother Ben (Marcus, The Bad News Bears TV series) is a model child in every way. How is she supposed to compete with that? Annabel just wishes that her nagging mother would get off her back and Ellen wishes that her headstrong daughter would listen just for once.
It just happens to be Friday the 13th and things are about to get very freaky. Both mother and daughter say “I wish I could switch places with her for just one day” at the exact same time in different locations. Well, you know what Oscar Wilde said about being careful what you wish for. Their wish comes true and they switch bodies at that very moment. Now Ellen inhabits her daughter’s body and vice versa. Now they’re both about to get a crash course in each other’s lives. Now mother and daughter will see life from the other’s perspective. It’s the ultimate parent/child bonding exercise!
As you can imagine, all sorts of hilarious complications ensue. Annabel (as Ellen) tries to keep house (cooking, cleaning, laundry) with disastrous results while Ellen (as Annabel) makes a bloody mess of things at school (friends. classes, field hockey). There’s also the matter of the teenage boy (McClure, the Superman movies) that lives across the street. Annabel has a huge crush on him and with her now inhabiting her mother’s body, things can only go from bad to worse. HEY!!! Get your mind out of the gutter! This is a G-rated Disney movie.
Part of what makes Freaky Friday work so well is the perfect casting. Harris and Foster play very well off of each other. Chemistry is especially important when it comes to a body switch movie. Bereft of that, such a movie would be a dismal failure (e.g. Like Father, Like Son). Foster remains one of the best child actors of the 20th century as is clearly evidenced by Freaky Friday. She possessed this intelligence and maturity that belied her age. To this day, she’s still one of the most intelligent actors working in film. The very fact that she appeared in both this movie and Taxi Driver (an Oscar-nominated role, no less!) in the same year attests to her extraordinary talent. It shows incredible range and versatility on her part.
I’m less familiar with Harris’ work, but based on her performance here, I would say that she is also a gifted actress. The supporting cast includes John Astin (The Addams Family) as husband/father to the pair as well as Ruth Buzzi (Laugh-In) and Kaye Ballard (The Mothers-In-Law) as competing field hockey coaches.
Freaky Friday has a great many funny scenes, most of them involving physical humor like Harris riding a skateboard and, later, water-skis. More than just a mere comedy, it also has a positive message about the often contentious parent/child dynamics. Freaky Friday promotes the idea of children having a better understanding of their parents and vice versa. That’s a message that should transcend all generational differences. I guess that’s why Disney remade this movie twice (there was also a 1995 made-for-TV version starring Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffman). Each one speaks to its respective generation, but this version is definitely the most entertaining.
