\u201cMore is more\u201d is the guiding ethos of this busy, goofy and occasionally moving comedy sequel from the Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis and the former teen star Lindsay Lohan. The pair are reprising their roles, and indeed recycling much of the plot, from 2003\u2019s mother-daughter body swap classic Freaky Friday, but with one key difference: there\u2019s more of everything. More narrative convolutions, more subplots, more supporting characters, more one-liners, more slapstick, more musical interludes, and even more tear-jerking finales. <\/p>\n
The body-swapping splits four ways. Former grungy rebel turned protective single mother and talent manager Anna (Lohan) magically trades places (a mystic is involved) with her resentful daughter Harper (Julia Butters) while Harper\u2019s high school nemesis and posh British blow-in Lily (Sophia Hammons), under the same transformative spell, swaps with Harper\u2019s grandmother, and Anna\u2019s mother, Tess (Curtis). <\/p>\n
Anna is only days away from marrying Lily\u2019s father, Eric (Manny Jacinto), who hopes to move the clan to London, but not before Anna can quell the anxieties of her superstar client Ella (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and hopefully discover an outlet for her musical ambitions. <\/p>\n
Complicating matters even more is the newly hatched plan of Harper and Lily, while in the bodies of Anna and Tess, to break up the nuptials, scupper the London exodus and reintroduce Anna to hunky love interest from the first Freaky, Jake (Chad Michael Murray). And that\u2019s not even addressing the screwball character confusion that permeates Anna and Eric\u2019s rehearsal dinner, their surf and dance lessons and Eric\u2019s citizenship interview with US immigration services. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Read more film reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews<\/a><\/p>\n There is, to repeat, a lot going on here. But one of the delights of Jordan Weiss\u2019s hugely ambitious screenplay is that everything, somehow, makes loose sense. The other delight is the witheringly funny one-liner, delivered by Lily, when she first discovers Facebook. \u201cLook,\u201d she says, \u201cit\u2019s a database of old people!\u201d <\/p>\n Elsewhere, Curtis and Lohan excel at \u201cbeing\u201d teens together, complete with exaggerated mannerisms and cartoonish facial expressions. They certainly seem, in places, to be channelling the Laurel and Hardy classic Brats, or maybe Harry Enfield and Kathy Burke as Kevin and Perry. <\/p>\n \u2022 Lindsay Lohan interview: \u2018When I was young, I was fearless\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n The Saturday Night Live star Vanessa Bayer is fabulous as the ditzy clairvoyant Madame Jen. The director Nisha Ganatra (Late Night) is also generous to her cameo players and transforms the ostensibly minor scene of Eric\u2019s citizenship interview into a showcase for Santina Muha, playing a government agent with a penchant for Chumbawamba. <\/p>\n In the end, I missed the storytelling honesty and the mother-daughter dynamics of the original. But only just. In cinemas from Aug 8<\/p>\n Two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman<\/p>\n Make Wednesday your go-to cinema day. Each month Times+ members can bring a friend for free at Everyman on a Wednesday. The perfect cinema experience with plush sofas, a full bar and great food. Visit mytimesplus.co.uk<\/a> to find out more.<\/p>\n
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PG, 111min<\/p>\n