Freaky Friday (Remake)

(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from the remake of Freaky Friday. The song "Ultimate" by Lindsey Lohan plays throughout)

Doug (vo): Here’s my quick little review of the remake of Freaky Friday, and ironically, I might actually have more to say about this one because I think this is one of the few remakes that’s better than the original.

Story and review

Doug (vo): The setup is still the same. It’s still the girl and her mother who switch places, but this time, it’s played by Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan. And truth be told, I just think their performances are better. And on top of that, I think they take more of the opportunities that’s offered to them with this scenario. Not only do they make fun of their celebrity, like when Jamie Lee Curtis looks at herself and says she looks like the Crypt Keeper, but there’s also more opportunity in the fact that, well, the mother’s allowed to work in this version. And to me, that’s part of what can make it really funny; a child going into the work world and not knowing what to do. In the original, the mother stayed home, and I’m not gonna act like that’s always easy-peasy either, but there’s just more comedic possibilities with going into the office. And on top of that, our youth at that time got a little bit more cutting edge with technology and bands and trying to be more hardcore and all that fun stuff, and, well, that’s more fun to see an adult try to fit into. Even though if...yeah, some of it is getting a little dated, but to me, it’s still funnier. Hell, I think the original Freaky Friday might’ve been a little more funnier if it was a little bit more dated, like what if she did get a little bit more into the hippie culture or protesting or the wars or something? I don’t know, just something to make it a little funnier. But in this one, they take every advantage, and it’s a ton of fun.

[The main characters, now played by different actors this time, are shown]

Doug (vo): Once again, Lindsey Lohan is great, both as the teen and as the adult in the teen’s body, and Jamie Lee Curtis does a wonderful job as always. She’s great as the stern mother, but also great as the kid in the adult body that’s trying to have fun but learning responsibility. And I don’t know. Maybe because more of these clichés have been done in the past, there is more of this pressure to not repeat them and, yeah, you got to hit a few, and they do, but at the same time, they try to keep it a little bit more fresh, which I like. They try to throw in new weird things with the current generation, which I think is a big difference between something like The Parent Trap remake and the original, where, really, there wasn’t that much of an update. Here, there’s a huge update. Technology has changed and schools have changed and when the idea is an adult trying to go into a kid’s body and trying to adapt, it’s much funnier because you know how much adults are behind on all that stuff, particularly parents.

Final thought

Doug (vo): So, I’m not necessarily blaming the original movie for not being good enough, it’s just that I think with the changing times with the upgrade and technology and more going into the work world and stuff, there’s just more comedy to it. And like I said before, getting rid of a lot of past clichés, but still keeping the ones that are probably needed to make the story work. And I know there’s a lot of people that are gonna love the original, and that’s fine, go ahead and like it. There’s nothing really wrong with it, it’s just, in my opinion, there’s a lot more that’s done in this one. They’re definitely fun movies to compare and contrast, so when you get a chance, maybe watch them back-to-back and decide which one you like best. For me, though, it’s definitely the remake.

[The scene, showing Anna and Tess embracing each other after Tess successfully performs at a rock concert, is shown]