{"id":12723,"date":"2025-08-06T23:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T03:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=12723"},"modified":"2025-08-06T23:02:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T03:02:07","slug":"freaky-friday-2003","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2025\/08\/06\/freaky-friday-2003\/","title":{"rendered":"Freaky Friday (2003)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Freaky Friday<\/strong> (2003)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Disney\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 97 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (mild thematic elements, some language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Mark Waters\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Rolfe Kent\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Oliver Wood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: August 6, 2003 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Harold Gould, Chad Michael Murray, Stephen Tobolowsky, Christina Vidal, Ryan Malgarini, Haley Hudson, Rosalind Chao, Lucille Soong, Willie Garson, Dina Spybey-Waters (as Dina Waters), Julie Gonzalo.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $110.2M (US)\/$160.8M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0I love the original Freaky Friday (1976) starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris as a daughter and mother who change places for a day. It\u2019s the first body-switch comedy. It paved the way for films like Big (1988), Vice Versa (1988) and 13 Going on 30 (2004). I didn\u2019t see the 1995 remake starring Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffman. I generally stay away from made-for-TV sequels and remakes. I watched Problem Child 3: Junior in Love (1995). Haven\u2019t I suffered enough?<\/p>\n

\u00a0I genuinely like the 2003 re-remake of Freaky Friday<\/strong> starring Jamie Lee Curtis (True Lies) and Lindsay Lohan (The Parent Trap). Director Mark Waters (Mean Girls) brings the story up to date without losing any of the heart and humor of the original. It has surprising emotional depth for a teen-oriented comedy. Even better, it never feels forced or artificial. It\u2019s as real as it can be in an unreal situation. That\u2019s due in large part to flawless performances by the two leads.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Renowned psychiatrist Tess (Curtis) and 15YO daughter Anna (Lohan) don\u2019t see eye-to-eye on anything. Mom doesn\u2019t understand what she deals with every day at school like being bullied by her former best friend (Gonzalo, A Cinderella Story) and an English teacher (Tobolowsky, Groundhog Day) with a personal grudge against her. There\u2019s also this boy, Jake (Murray, One Tree Hill), she\u2019s crushing on. At home, she has to contend with a bratty little brother (Malgarini) always trying to get her into trouble. All she wants to do is jam with her alt-rock band Pink Slip. When they have a shot at a spot in a big music event, Tess won\u2019t let her go to the audition because it conflicts with her wedding rehearsal dinner.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Widowed Tess is about to remarry and Anna doesn\u2019t like it. It\u2019s not that her fianc\u00e9 Ryan (Harmon, Summer School) isn\u2019t a nice guy. He is. He\u2019s just not Anna\u2019s father. Tess is extremely stressed what with her busy career (she has a new book coming out) and planning her wedding. It all comes to a head when Tess won\u2019t let Anna go to the audition. They get into an argument at a Chinese restaurant. The owner\u2019s mother (Soong, Fresh Off the Boat) overhears and intervenes. She gives mother and daughter fortune cookies which, when opened, unleash a magic spell.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The next day, Tess and Anna wake up to discover they\u2019re in each other\u2019s bodies. Naturally, they freak out. Not knowing what to do, they decide to proceed with their daily routines until they can figure it out. Tess, as Anna, goes to school while Anna, as Tess, goes to work. The events that follow, some hilarious and some not so much, are eye-opening to say the least.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I have fond memories of seeing the original movie with my dad when I was nine. We both found it funny. I don\u2019t know what he would of thought of this Freaky Friday<\/strong>. I wasn\u2019t sure I\u2019d like it when it came out in August \u201903. I was on leave from my job at the time recovering from hernia surgery. I had nothing better to do so I went to a Friday night showing at a nearby multiplex. I took my seat among all the tween girls in attendance with their mothers. I wondered how many of the young drama queens were already telling their moms that they\u2019re ruining their lives. It made me smile as the Disney studio logo came on. I hoped it wouldn\u2019t be the only amusement I got from the new version. It wasn\u2019t. I laughed a fair amount of times throughout. I especially got a kick out of Anna\u2019s slightly batty grandfather (Gould, The Golden Girls).<\/p>\n

\u00a0What really impressed me about Freaky Friday<\/strong> is the acting. Curtis and Lohan are both excellent in their roles. They\u2019re not just playing one character; they\u2019re playing two, each with her own personality. Curtis perfectly adapts the mannerisms of a teen experiencing unlimited freedom for the first time, driving Mom\u2019s car and giving her credit cards a workout. And wait until you see how she handles a TV talk show appearance to promote the book. Lohan is equally good playing an adult trapped in a teen\u2019s body. The way she talks to her friends, encouraging them to make good choices, is just like a parent. She\u2019s shocked to see first-hand what Anna goes through at school. Both actresses switch between personas flawlessly.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I can see one thing about Freaky Friday<\/strong> that some might find problematic. That would be the bit where Jake develops a huge crush on Tess\/Anna after a flirty conversation at a coffee shop. He\u2019s a high school kid; she\u2019s an adult. Never mind she\u2019s actually a teen in an adult\u2019s body. Some might find this uncomfortable. I didn\u2019t. I see the humor in the complicated situation. How do you explain it to somebody without looking like you\u2019ve lost all grip on reality?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Freaky Friday<\/strong> benefits from a solid supporting cast that also includes Christina Vidal (Life with Mikey) and Haley Hudson (Weeds) as Anna\u2019s best friends and bandmates. Their band is great, btw. They totally rock! I especially like the song \u201cUltimate\u201d they perform during the end credits.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There\u2019s nothing to dislike about Freaky Friday<\/strong>. It\u2019s a good-natured comedy with a great deal of warmth with the lessons learned by mother and daughter. I had a big smile on my face as I left the theater that night. It was one of those rare instances where the makers of a remake get it. Waters, working from a screenplay by Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon Heather Hach, understands why the original worked and consistently shows it in his sure-handed direction. If only all remakes could make this claim.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Freaky Friday (2003)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Disney\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 97 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (mild thematic elements, some language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Mark Waters\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Rolfe Kent\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Oliver Wood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: August 6, 2003 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Harold Gould, Chad Michael Murray, Stephen Tobolowsky, Christina Vidal, Ryan Malgarini, Haley […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Freaky-Friday-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12723"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12744,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12723\/revisions\/12744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}