FamilyFans Movies

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FREAKY FRIDAY (PG)

Plot Summary: Mother and daughter switch bodies and are forced to live each other’s life.

Reason for the Rating: Mild thematic elements and some language.

FREAKY FRIDAY is a fun flick! Not only is it entertaining to watch, it looks like it was enjoyable to make. If you’re old enough to remember the original Freaky Friday (1976, starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster), you won’t be disappointed in this Disney do-over.

Jamie Lee Curtis plays Tess Coleman, a psychiatrist and widowed mother who is engaged to be married in two days.  Unfortunately, her relationship with her teenage daughter, Anna (Lindsay Lohan), has suffered recently, and communication between the two is less than desirable.  Between wedding plans, clients, Anna’s garage band and troubles in school, they can’t seem to connect or find a way to understand each other. There's also Tess’s youngest child, Harry (Ryan Malgarini), who is a crack-up and pushes Anna’s buttons (as any good younger brother would).

The night of the rehearsal dinner, Tess and Anna receive fortune cookies from an elderly Chinese woman. Next morning, they awaken in the other person’s body.  Since Tess can’t very well go to work in the body of her teenage daughter, nor Anna to school in the body of her middle-aged mother, they realize they will have to pose as each other until this mix up can be straightened out (much to the delight of Anna, who realized she can now drive the car and go on a credit card shopping spree).

The occurrences of the day are funny and at times heartwarming. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan do wonderful jobs of acting like a teenager and a mother.  They have fun with these characters and it makes the movie that much more enjoyable for the audience--and, we get to live vicariously through them. What mother wouldn’t want to check out her daughter’s love interest incognito? What daughter wouldn’t want to spice up her mother’s wardrobe? In the end though, the important thing, is that they get to see each other with new eyes and understanding.  Assumptions are stripped away, appreciation is renewed, and communication is restored.

This is a great family movie.  It’s a clean story all can relate to, and makes for excellent conversation afterward.

FamilyFans.com Recommends: Gather the family and hit the nearest movie theater!

After the Show…If members of your family choose to view this movie, use these questions to spark discussion about it afterward:

---Which characters in this movie are most like people in your family? Explain.

---Do you know what is important to each member of your family?  Is there something you wish your parents/children knew about you? What keeps them from knowing that?

---Unlike our family member and friends, God is able to see every part of our day and knows exactly what our desires are.  He understands the things others don’t. Is this something you take comfort in and find strength from?

Jill Wuellner

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Note: All movie-related graphics in this column are standard publicity/promotional shots and are owned by their respective movie studios.