Freaky Friday (2003)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Tess Coleman	Jamie Lee Curtis
Anna Coleman	Lindsay Lohan
Ryan	Mark Harmon
Grandpa	Harold Gould
Jake	Chad Michael Murray
Mr. Bates	Stephen Tobolowsky	½
Maddie	Christine Vidal
Harry Coleman	Ryan Malgarini
Peg	Haley Hudson

Review

Remake number two of the original Jodie Foster/Barbara Harris vehicle profits from fine casting and enjoyable execution as career 40-something mother (Curtis) swaps bodies (or brains, depending on your point of view) with her semi-outsider teenage daughter (Lohan). Even if the premise is all too familiar for film buffs (there were numerous equally premised films during the late 1980s, notably Like Father, Like Son, Vice Versa and Big), Freaky Friday works surprisingly well because it takes both generations seriously and discusses real, everyday struggles for both mother and daughter in a non-hysterical way. Of course, the film is still not free of stereotypes and banal explanations (it is, after all, a Hollywood teen movie), but there is a sense of authenticity to the characters embodied by Lohan and Curtis. And the sturdy Mark Harmon somehow gets himself safely through what must be a contender for the most thankless role of the decade. The result is fine entertainment with something interesting for both generations. Neither will probably learn anything along the way, but given that you are willing to ignore a couple of stupidities, this is good fun from start to finish.