Freakier Friday
More is definitely a case of less in Nisha Ganatra’s over-stuffed sequel to the 2003 body-swap comedy.
Body dysmorphia: Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan - or not
Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Freaky Friday was pretty freaky, but this is even freakier. It would have to be – it’s a sequel. Finding oneself in someone else’s shoes is a good stride towards hilarity, with a strong moral instep, to boot. Now Lindsay Lohan’s Anna Coleman is a mother herself, and her own mom, Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis), is relishing the joys of grandparenting. In a neat pop video-esque prologue, Anna ends up in the principal’s office of her daughter’s school in order to untangle the damage that her offspring, Harper (Julia Butters), has wreaked in chemistry class. But Harper’s real problem is Lily (Sophia Hammons), the new classmate “who thinks she is better than everybody else because she’s British.” At the same dressing-down is Lily’s father Eric (Manny Jacinto), who bemoans the pressures of being a single parent and Anna, being a single parent herself, jumps at the romantic opportunity that has presented itself. And, before the opening title, Eric and Anna are engaged to be married which is, like, the worst-case scenario for sworn enemies Harper and Lily. They are to become stepsisters? Theirs is far from a Special Relationship, more of a cultural collision. What both girls need to understand is that it’s not easy being fifteen, particularly when they have lost a parent. If only Lily and Harper could just trade places for even a minute…
When, back in 1976, a fourteen-year-old Jodie Foster found herself magically transported into the body of her mother Ellen (Barbara Harris), it seemed like a novel idea for a comic fantasy. Since Gary Nelson’s Freaky Friday became a cult hit and spawned four remakes (if you count the horror version, Freaky), it is also responsible for a whole new sub-genre: the body-swap comedy (most recently resurrected in Jumanji: The Next Level). It’s a neat trick to figure out somebody else’s place in the world by literally being stuck in their body for 24 hours. We all have our crosses to bear and we might think differently about somebody if we had to stagger around in their high heels. In the 2003 remake with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, Heather Hach’s dialogue perfectly caught the day-to-day pressures and misunderstandings that arise in a typical modern household, making it a comedy that appealed equally to teenagers and their parents.
Here, taking the concept to another generational level proves to have both its setbacks and its advantages. As a fifteen-year-old entombed in the physique of her adversary’s grandmother, Jamie Lee Curtis delivers a game, selfless portrayal of a teenager peering into the abyss of old age. Taking one look in the mirror, Lily (as played by Curtis) screams, “I’m decomposing!” She then has the humiliating ordeal of having to shop for a unisex urinal, an enema kit and adult diapers (Lily: “that is so lazy”). Curtis is terrific. On the debit side, it takes quite a while to work out who is who and where they sit in the unravelling narrative as Lily, Harper, Anna and Tess are shuffled into different bodies. You do have to concentrate. The diverting part is seeing the older actresses playing teen, while the genuinely teenage Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons have fun as their more mature avatars. One might even call the film educational as Jordan Weiss’ perceptive script divides the ages into their respective cultural crannies (“Facebook is a database for old people”).
There are some zingers, but much of the confusion of the characters can but be shared by the audience. As Lily and Harper try to use their new identities to scupper their parents’ nuptials, the slapstick builds to a head, while every supporting actor attempts to bag their own set of guffaws. Much of it is excruciating, a lot is obvious, some of it is downright preposterous, even within the constraints of a comic fantasy. Still, by the end, it’s hard not to be touched by the life lessons learned.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, Manny Jacinto, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Rosalind Chao, Mark Harmon, Stephen Tobolowsky, Christina Vidal Mitchell, Chad Michael Murray, Vanessa Bayer, Harold Gould, Lucille Soong, Elaine Hendrix, Willie Garson, Heather Hach.
Dir Nisha Ganatra, Pro Kristin Burr, Andrew Gunn and Jamie Lee Curtis, Ex Pro Lindsay Lohan, Screenplay Jordan Weiss, Ph Matthew Clark, Pro Des Cary White, Ed Eleanor Infante, Music Amie Doherty, Costumes Genevieve Tyrrell, Sound Ai-Ling Lee, Dialect coach Victoria Hanlin.
Walt Disney Pictures/Gunn Films/Burr! Productions-Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
110 mins. USA. 2025. UK and US Rel: 8 August 2025. Cert. PG.
