Freaky Friday (2003)

[dvdjunkie]

Although this is a grood movie and I don't feel it is a waste of time watching it, I much prefer the original version of this movie. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan don't hold a candle to Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. I thought the humor was rather forced in the Curtis-Lohan version. I didn't buy the guitar playing scenes, and just thought they could have done a lot more with the story. The original movie's storyline was a lot more believeable and I think it is a much better movie.

[ichabod]

Quite frankly whilst I do like the original, i don't think it's anywhere near as believable as the remake.

The remake has gives reason for the transformation, the chinese woman puts a spell upon them and only when the fortune from the cookie comes true will things revert to normal. In the original that fact that the swap just happens from nowhere does not appear very believable. Likewise when the characters make the switch back, they haven't really learnt a lesson like Curtis and Lohan do, they are not made to suffer they just get fed up and wish themselves back adn voila end of the magic.

Also let's not get into the whole waterskiing farce!

The story of the 2003 version flows much better than the original.

[2099net]

It was me who started the Lindsay Lohan thread, and it was partly because of Freaky Friday (and partly because the word "boobies" was involved).

For all LiLo's faults (and she's got so many, I never knew my thread would open a metaphorical Pandora's Box onto the forum) nobody can deny that she gives a stunning performance in this film. I cannot imagine anyone else playing the role so well. If I was marking the performance, I would give it 10/10, and it easily beats the other roles I have seen her in.

As for the movie, well, its fun, funny and, and 'Bod says, has a moral without hitting you over the head with it. I'm not sure it's a teenage film though. Teenagers today will have moved onto other topics and films I suspect. But it definitely works as a family film for say, 8-11 year olds and their parents. Both can get something out of watching the film - I don't feel it talks either up or down to either audience.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

Ahhh, Freaky Friday.

I remember like it was yesterday(well not really but), it was a boring Saturday and my Mom and sister wanting to go on an "outing" and go to the theaters to see "Freaky Friday". I actually didn't want to go, they forced me into it as I had no interest in it, and well, I left the theater really liking it as much as both of them and have seen it several times since.

I agree with Netty and Bod, though I'm not a Lindsay Lohan fan, she was great in this! She managed to be believeable as her mother and had great comedic timing <strike>and was also kinda hot</strike>. Also thought Jamie Lee Curtis was great and excellent in comedic timing as well.

I must make a confession, not only have I still never seen the original Freaky Friday, but until the remake, I never knewthe original existed. But from what I've saw from the bonus features for the remake and read from the internet, the original is supposed to have a very 70's style and is very outdated. Either way, this film I felt was very believeable and on top of it was a lot of fun. While it may have a modern feel to it, I don't think it's going to get outdated anytime soon. Even the music was alright!

If you HAVE to make a remake, I feel everyone remake be like Freaky Friday. Chose a film that has been forgotten or was never that hugely popular, treat it with care by chosing good actors and making necessary story changes for it to feel "modern" yet still keep the "feel" of the original to make fans of that film like it, and have fun.

Overall, it Freaky Friday may not be a masterpiece, it's a fun film that's enjoyable to watch whenever it's on t.v. or somebody's house and ranks pretty high on my "favorite live-action Disney films" list.

I'm sure ichabod is finally happy I've made a major contributation to his thread series for once.

[dvdjunkie]

I reread what I had posted and maybe I didn't get my point across the way I wanted to. The new version of Freaky Friday is a good version because they took the story and modernized it. That is a given. And it has a good moral to the story. I am just not a fan of Lohan or Curtis and don't think either of them can act their way out of a wet paper bag with a hole in it. I think with a better choice of actors it could have been a lot smarter, and better movie.

Jodie Foster is in a league of her own as an actiress and has been since she made her first movie (Napoleon & Samantha in 1972). And I don't find it any farther fetched in story as a fortune cookie casting a spell as a mother-daugher wishing they could switch places for a day. Either premise works for me, and I think they both pull it off well.

I just happen to like the "originals" of most movies that the have chosen to remake these days. I think that this updated version of "Freaky Friday" is more of an original than a remake, and that is probably why I do own both of these movies on DVD and find that I watch them equally and enjoy them both for different reasons.

[RachelSmachel]

I haven't seen the original of the movie; I know Channel 7 has the rights to it, so it will probably show in a midday slot sometime in the near future. I enjoyed the remake; it's definitely a fun film (and funny). I felt the "moral of the story" was well done too also, it’s not very overbearing at all. The acting was very good; you can really believe that they were trapped in each others bodies.

[goofystitch]

This movie had a sneak peak on my birthday in 2004, so we went and saw it. I was really excited for two reasons: I'm a huge fan of the original an I used to have a thing for Lindsay Lohan. I really like this remake and it was much better than the Shelly Long early 90's made for TV remake. In my opinion, Jamie Lee Curtis stole the whole show as the mom in the daughter's body. She was great! I wouldn't say she was any better or worse than Barbara Harris. The mom and daughter in each film had such different personalities that it is hard to compare them, so I feel they both did a great job with the role and had a lot of fun with it. However, I liked Jodie Foster's Annabelle better than Lindsay Lohan's. The daughter was still rebelious and smart. They both took a different approach to the character, but I think Jodie Foster's scenes as the mother were much funnier than Jodie Foster blowing up a typewriter at school and trying to drive without a license. For me, the original is slightly preferred mainly to nostalgia, but the remake is great. Deffinatley one of the best Disney remakes up there with Lindsay Lohan's first film, "The Parent Trap."

[DisneyFreak5282]

I agree with Netty and Bod, though I'm not a Lindsay Lohan fan, she was great in this! She managed to be believeable as her mother and had great comedic timing <strike>and was also kinda hot</strike>. Also thought Jamie Lee Curtis was great and excellent in comedic timing as well.

I agree with this 100%! I remember I got to see this in theaters a week before it came out (my friend and I went to a special sneak-peek!)

[MickeyMousePal]

The remake of Freaky Friday was way better then the original film.
But both movies had it's pros and cons to many viewers.
For example the older generation prefers the original while the new generation prefers the new remake.

So why is Disney just remaking films...The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Parent Trap and The Love Bug.

[TheKey]

I don't know the original movie (I just know a German version of the story that was produced for tv) but I really love this movie.
Back then, I liked Lindsay Lohan much better then now.
The movie is really funny and I think that also the music fits nice into the story.
I don't regret that I bought the DVD.

[Escapay]

Saw Freaky Friday in theatres with the siblings and some cousins, then promptly bought it on DVD in December. It's one of those films that you don't pay much attention to on your shelf, then when you're looking for something to do on a Saturday and see the DVD, you think, "Hmm, I haven't seen this in awhile..." and plop it in. Lazy weekend films, I like to call them.

Of the three versions, though (1977, 1995, 2003), I like the 2003 over the other two, though we (New Jersey Trilogy) have seen the 1995 version more times than the other two, thanks to the repeated airings on The Disney Channel back in the day.

Of the three mothers (Barbara Harris, Shelley Long, Jamie Lee Curtis), I actually like Harris's portrayal the most, as she seems to have more fun in the role. Don't get me wrong, it's amusing to see Shelley Long on roller blades, and Jamie Lee Curtis body surfing, but Barbara Harris seems to actually enjoy her antics more than the others.

Of the three daughters (Jodie Foster, Gaby Hoffman , Lindsay Lohan), LiLo's perhaps the best portrayal of an adult in a teenager's body. Gaby Hoffman seemed more like a teenager pretending to be an adult, and I haven't seen the Jodie Foster version in awhile to remember what it was like.

Of the three love interests (Mark McClure, Andrew Keegan, Chad Michael Murray), the best would be Murray, who actually has more to do with the character than his previous versions. It's also amusing to see Murray falling for Jamie Lee Curtis.

However, the best "random cameos and small roles in the film" award goes to the 1995 version, which contain the following:

-Drew Carey, as some kind of tax audit guy.
-Sandra Bernhard, as a dour lady they're trying to sell a clothing line to
-Carol Kane, as a librarian and another teacher
-Eileen Brennan, as the husky-voice principal
-Marla Sokoloff, as a b*tchy student who later makes amends

Escapay

[slave2moonlight]

I saw this on a plane coming back from (or was it going to...) London. I like Lohan (on screen at least) and it seemed like a pretty good remake, but I really need to see it again to say much about it. It's a pretty simple story I suppose, done several times already (not just by Disney, remember when this sort of thing was pretty popular?, "Like Father Like Son" with Kirk Cameron for example? I think it was Kirk Cameron), so it should be an easy one not to screw up. I mean, the 3 Freaky Fridays I've seen are all pretty good, but also pretty similar. Hard to top the classics with these Disney remakes, but they can be pretty good. Just avoid "That Darn Cat," ha.

[TheNikki]

Ah I really love this remake. Personally I was a huge Lindsay fan up until she started getting all skinny and drugged out so I guess it's a little bittersweet to see this movie since it started her comeback so to speak.

I think both Lindsay and Jamie Lee are wonderful and hilarious together.

I also enjoyed the romantic storyline between Lohan and Chad Michael Murray and normally I don't like him at all.

[James]

I really like this version of Freaky Friday. I completely agree that it didn't have an agenda type feel to it, although I didn't think that The Princess Diaries or The Lizzie McGuire Movie did either. The sequel to The Princess Diaries did however. Jamie Lee Curtis was great in her role, and it makes me sad to think that she has ended her career on the next acting job she took, which was Christmas with the Kranks. It would've been better if she had ended it on this. It would've been great to see Jodie Forster in this role. As for Lindsay Lohan, she was good, but I did like Gaby Hoffman in the TV 1995 version, and Jodie Forster was great, even though she's a better dramatic actress. LiLo was better in this than any of her other films. She needs to get out of her teens I think in order to establish herself as a respectable actress, even though she's better than a ton of her colleagues around. Her friends Christina Vidal, and the other chick are good too. I saw the oher chick in the first episode of Weeds the other night, she was good, it's a shame that she doesn't stick around for the rest of the series. Christina Vidal was in Life with Mikey, which is a great movie. It stars Micheal J. Fox, and it was hilarious. It's too bad that she hasn't done any other things since this was made. It would've been interesting to see how Kelly Osbourne did in this role as well. Chad Micheal Murray was also good in it.
I really liked the feel of this film more than anything else. It didn't feel as though it wanted to be a successful film, like TPD or TLMM, even though they didn't feel like they were on an agenda. It just felt like they were just making this film because they wanted to, not because of money or anything. Overall, a great film. Interesting supporting roles as well, like the grandpa, the fiancee, the brother, the bitchy chick, the teachers, and the Chinese people. A fun flick.
-James

[brownie]

Wow, I didn't know there was a Freaky Friday remake made in 1995! Now I want to see it.

And I really like the 2003 one. I remember at one point when I was little I rented the original Freaky Friday every week for quite a while. I finally watched it again a few months ago, and I liked it, but I actually don't think it's as good as the recent version. Jamie Lee Curtis's performance convinced me, and although I liked Lindsay Lohan in the part (before she went downhill), I didn't really buy her acting. I've seen this film many, many times.

[D82]

Jamie Lee Curtis talks about her role in this movie at this moment of a video from last year.

[Vlad]

Here's a really ugly poster design for the movie. It's from Belarus. God, it's awful



It kinda makes the movie look like communist propaganda

[Sotiris]

That's both terrifying and hilarious!

[carolinakid]

The only Freaky Friday I like is the one with Jodie Foster and the fabulous Barbara Harris.

[Sotiris]

Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan Talk ‘Freaky Friday’ at 20
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/10/movi ... riday.html

“It Was the Perfect Time in History for the Movie”: An Oral History of ‘Freaky Friday’
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235538406/

Chad Michael Murray Answers Every Question We Have About Freaky Friday
https://www.vulture.com/2023/08/chad-mi ... lohan.html

Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reunite 20 years after Freaky Friday: 'You grew up and so beautifully!'
https://ew.com/movies/jamie-lee-curtis- ... y-reunion/

"Freaky Friday" (2003) Is Getting an Interactive Watch Party Ahead of "Freakier Friday" Release, Thanks to D23
https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-en ... er-friday/