Going into a film like Freakier Friday, it’s essential to adjust one’s expectations.<\/p>\n
Fast facts Freakier Friday:<\/p>\n
What: 22 years after their first life swap, mum and daughter Tess and Anna once again wake up in a new body \u2014 but this time, a new generation is caught up in the mayhem too.<\/p>\n
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chad Michael Murray, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.<\/p>\n
Director: Nisha Ganatra<\/p>\n
Where: In cinemas now.<\/p>\n
Likely to make you feel: Like calling your mum.<\/p>\n
Any sequel \u2014 let alone a reboot made 22 years after its original \u2014 is never going to hit the same as its beloved predecessor.<\/p>\n
The new film tries to please dual audiences; fans with fond memories of the noughties hit, many of whom are now parents themselves, and modern kids and teens who have their contemporary taste in film.<\/p>\n
The result is a bubbly, quippy, Disney-channel style blend of bright colours, battle-of-the-generations comedy and a Chappell Roan soundtrack.<\/p>\n
New look, same classic<\/p>\n
Of course, Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis were not the first to take on the body-swap classic.<\/p>\n
Based on the 1972 novel of the same name, the first film adaptation came in 1976, starring Barbara Harris and a young Jodie Foster. The role pushed the teenager towards stardom, earned three Golden Globe nominations and was both a critical and box office success.<\/p>\n
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Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris swapped bodies in the 1976 film of the same name. (Disney)<\/p>\n
Almost three decades later, the 2003 remake was also a smash hit, poking fun at the explosive relationship between Tess (Curtis) and her teenage daughter Anna (Lohan).<\/p>\n
After some problematic “Asian voodoo” (classic early 2000s) one night at a Chinese restaurant, the pair magically wakes up in each other’s bodies and must make things right before Tess’s wedding.<\/p>\n
In the modern sequel, Lohan’s Anna is a single mum and music manager who quickly falls head over heels for handsome single dad Eric (Manny Jacinto).<\/p>\n
The couple are determined to marry and move their blended family to the UK, much to the dismay of Anna’s surf-obsessed teenager Harper (Julia Butters), who is determined to stay in California for the killer swells. While Eric’s daughter Lily (Sophia Hammons), whose only personality trait seems to be “British”, yearns to return to England.<\/p>\n
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Harper (Julia Butters) and Lily (Sophia Hammons), are peak Disney channel, with Lily treating audiences to a faux British accent. (Disney)<\/p>\n
Curtis returns too, taking on the role of overbearing grandma, constantly “helping” her daughter with endless parenting advice and unwelcome assistance to comically relatable effect.<\/p>\n
Sure enough, the warring women are soon tested once again by a four-way body swap; Anna and Tess wake up in Harper and Lily’s bodies, and vice versa.<\/p>\n
Endless gen Z vs “old people” gags ensue, as do all the classic scenes of the original; mum and grandma end up in detention, the teens give their older bodies a makeover, and so on.<\/p>\n
Tess’s career as a psychologist gets a new spin, with our contemporary obsession with therapy-talk turned into a running joke.<\/p>\n
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Characters in Freakier Friday are constantly instructing each other to “pause and reframe” or to “respect my safe space”. (Disney)<\/p>\n
And, of course, there’s endless nostalgia bait.<\/p>\n
Chad Michael Murray is back as the endlessly cool Jake, in his first major acting role in what feels like decades.<\/p>\n
Anna’s band, Pink Slip, performs their classic Take Me Away from the original, which (fun fact!) is originally by the Australian band Lash.<\/p>\n
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Anna’s little brother, Harry (Ryan Malgarini), now all grown up, even makes a brief appearance, in a sure-fire way to make you feel very old. Mark Harmon of NCIS fame reappears as Tess’s now long-term husband, while Stephen Tobolowsky’s Mr Bates remains cranky as ever.<\/p>\n
Endless throwbacks, some fun<\/p>\n
Freakier Friday is by no means a great film \u2014 but no-one expected it to be.<\/p>\n
The jokes don’t always land, the acting is a little overdone, and much of the film feels like a straight-to-TV movie in peak Hollywood, Disney-fied style.<\/p>\n
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Chad Michael Murray will still have all-grown-up fans swooning. (Disney)<\/p>\n
But it’s also a ton of fun, and retains the intention of its original; it’s a mostly silly film about mums and daughters, for mums and daughters.<\/p>\n