FREAKY FRIDAY A pleasant out-of-left-field surprise, this hit remake of Disney’s 1977 family favorite (with Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster) is a treat for both kids and adults, updating the basic premise (first seen in Mary Rodgers’ book of the same name) while avoiding the common pitfall of tailoring the material to appeal only to the youngest (or, in the case of the grownups, dimmest) members of the audience. Here’s a family film with genuine emotional pull, as workaholic psychiatrist Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her alienated 15-year-old daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan) are constantly at odds, bickering incessantly and repeatedly failing to see the other’s point of view. But a pinch of Asian mysticism places them in each other’s body, thereby forcing Anna to contend with her mom’s impending wedding and Tess to cope with her daughter’s burgeoning relationship with a cute schoolmate (Chad Michael Murray) and an important audition for her garage band. Curtis is in top form here, yet she’s matched all the way by Lohan — their scenes together are especially potent, full of sharp comic give-and-take and capped by sparkling dialogue from scripters Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon. A buoyant soundtrack only adds to the enjoyment. DVD extras include a deleted scene, bloopers, a behind-the-scenes tour with Lohan, and two music videos.
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This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2003.
