Freakier Friday Hits All The Right Notes

Freaky Friday is the type of cinematic property that never get old, but it did not begin life as a film! It all started with a 1972 book from Mary Rodgers. The characters in the book have different names and was inspired by a 1882 novel Vice Versa: A Lesson To Fathers about a father and son in Victorian London who swap places via a magical Indian stone, and learn to appreciate each other’s perspectives.

Cut to 1976 with Jodie Foster and 2003’s Lindsay Lohan/Jamie Lee Curtis update, the laughs remained fast and plentiful.  Foster earned a Golden Globe nomination marking a significant step in her transition from child roles to more mature parts. Meanwhile Lohan, won a 2004 MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female and two Teen Choice Awards for the movie.  So, it suffices to say that audiences have been early awaiting a freakquel for more than twenty years and it has finally arrived.

Directed by Nisha Ganatra, Freakier Friday picks up years after Tess (Jaime Lee Curtis) and Anna (Lindsay Lohan) endured an out of body identity crisis. Anna now has a daughter of her own – Harper (Julia Butters) and a soon-to-be stepdaughter – Lily (Sophia Hammons). As they navigate the myriad of  challenges that arise when two families attempt to blend as one, Tess and Anna discover that lightning might indeed strike twice.

Body swapping films are not new.  Remember that infamous FAO Schwartz scene with Tom Hanks in BIG or Jennifer Garner ode to ‘Thriller’ in 13 Going on 30?  Of course you do, but what do they all have in common?  This type of cinema taps into the inner child most adults have forgotten and keep buried deep within their psyche.  For the children desperately desiring adulthood only to realize being a grown last an eternity.

Curtis and Lee are comedy gold picking up right where they left off without skipping a beat with even funnier jokes especially at the adult side of the equation with quips about face creases, creaking bones and more thanks to the razor sharp screenplay from Jordan Weiss and Elyse Hollander.

In a summer full of nostalgic sequels, Freakier Friday is a definitive family friendly flick to add to the hit list.