I finally watched the 2003 version of Freaky Friday the day before this screening. It was one of those remakes that escaped me because, at the time, I wasn’t interested in revisiting a story that I had already enjoyed as a youth. I have never actually read the book on which these cinematic properties are based, but I did watch the 1976 movie when it aired on television. It was a film that I enjoyed so much as a child that I couldn’t care less that an updated version came out during the early aughts.
Well, it came as a surprise that 2003’s Freaky Friday, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, proved to be a sweet, enjoyable, and fun experience. Going into the screening of the sequel, I had hoped that the latest installment would be just as fun. I was wrong. Disney’s attempt at a “legacy sequel” proves to be another failed offering from the “House of the Mouse.” The terrible direction, the frustrating writing, and the utter lack of working humor make Freakier Friday an astonishingly bad entry in this previously successful franchise.
Both Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reprise their roles as Tess and Anna Coleman, the mother and daughter affected by the magic, body-swapping scenario of the previous film. Anna is now a single mother to daughter, Harper (Julia Butters), who now realizes how difficult it can be to raise a willful teenage daughter. Though they have spent most of their lives together and close to grandmother Tess, things are now changing quite a bit now that Anna has met and is now set to marry single dad, Eric Davies (Manny Jacinto), who has a teenage daughter of his own (Sophia Hammons). As the clock ticks forward to the big day, conflicts arise between Harper and Eric’s daughter, Lily, in addition to disputes between Anna and Tess. History repeats itself when Anna swaps places with her daughter Harper, and Tess swaps places with Lily.
Written by Elise Hollander and Jordan Weiss, and directed by Nisha Ganatra, Freakier Friday is a shameless play on nostalgia for anyone who adored the 2003 version of Freaky Friday. The movie relies on so many callbacks, but never finds its footing. What struck me the hardest is that this movie just is not funny. The filmmakers tried very, very hard to create and deliver comedic scenarios, but most of these moments do not land at all. The movie has a more heartfelt final act, but the events leading up to this moment fail to earn the expected ending.
Though I like both Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, their performances in the film are not particularly memorable. Curtis is terrible here. Here, the character swaps bodies with a teen girl who has a British accent. Curtis never adopts an accent when she is supposed to portray Lily. Julia Butters is fine as both herself and as her version of her mother, but the writing fails to flesh out all of the characters in the movie.
I was literally in awe at how unfunny and weak this movie is. Though I laughed at a few jokes, I could not believe that Disney would allow this supposedly finished movie to see the light of day. As much as I like the actors in this film, I hate to say that Freakier Friday is one of the worst movies I have seen this year.