neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Freaky Friday
	Mark Waters Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Harold Gould, Chad Michael Murray, Christina Vidal 2003		When a minor Disney family comedy with a fantasy element gets remade, there's no assurance that it will be worth a damn. So the whimsy, warmth and good quality of the updated "Freaky Friday" is a satisfying surprise. The 1976 film of Mary Rodgers' book, starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster as a mother and daughter who mystically switch bodies for a day, was silly fun. In the new version, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, as conservative working mother Tess and her trendy teenage daughter Anna, bring more realness and less slapstick to the situation. Tess is a widow set to remarry on Saturday, but Anna doesn't care for Mom's mellow fiancé (Mark Harmon). Anna is an aspiring rock musician whose band is entering a competition on Saturday, but Tess doesn't appreciate Anna's music. On Friday, a soul-transferring spell is covertly invoked by an outside party as a lesson in tolerance. Tess becomes Anna, and vice versa. They must convince family and friends that nothing's wrong, while undoing the magic and returning to normal by Saturday, or face sure disaster. It's funny and tender and, thanks to the prowess of Curtis and Lohan, you never question whose personality is in whose body.