I'm a bit late to this one but life gets busy sometimes so it is what it is. Normally I wouldn't bother with a review for something I see over a week late, but I found this to be a very pleasant surprise so here I am writing on anyways. I didn't grow up on the original Freaky Friday, so while I do enjoy it I don't have the deep nostalgia for it I know many do, and to be honest the trailers (aside from a fun use of Chappell Roan) really didn't do anything for me. Lindsay Lohan's recent track record and Jamie Lee Curtis' post-Oscar resume only added to my hesitation, but I wound up having quite a blast with this.
Freakier Friday fits in the modern vein of legacy sequels, directly following up the 2003 film with our central characters Anna (Lohan) and Tess (Curtis) two decades older. Anna now has a daughter of her own, the rebellious Harper (Julia Butters). A science class spat between Harper and her lab partner Lily (Sophia Hammons) brings Anna and Lily's dad Eric (Manny Jacinto) together. The two fall hard for each other much to the chagrin of their daughters, and when the daughters magically switch bodies with Anna and Tess, the two take it upon themselves to break their parents up.
I'll start my praises off with perhaps the biggest surprise to me; Lindsay Lohan is great. Her career obviously went downhill in the late 2000s and her recent run of Netflix movies have been at best cringeworthy, so I truly didn't expect anything from her. Maybe it's just the joy of coming back to this role, but she has so much bright energy here whether she's playing Anna or Harper playing Anna. She's funny, and you can feel that charm that made everyone fall in love with her back in the day which really brought a smile to my face. Jamie Lee didn't wow me as much. She's a lot of fun but in the context of this story it doesn't overly make sense that she's one of the swapped characters, and it ultimately most of the time feels like the character is more so just Jamie Lee Curtis rather than Tess or Lily. Of the newcomers, Julia Butters is a clear standout. Even from her short screen time in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood it was clear she had way more talent than most actors her age, and while this isn't any kind of Oscar fair her performance is a ton of fun and I think she does the best job of differentiating between her two characters. I really enjoyed the additions of Sophia Hammons and Manny Jacinto as well, but the two are playing British characters despite neither being British and unfortunately there are moments throughout where the accents slip.
The accent slips sadly aren't the only issue in terms of dialogue. There are a few points in the film where the ADR isn't quite synced up right so the dialogue isn't properly lined up with the actors' mouths. If it only happened once I wouldn't care but I noticed it a handful of times which soured my mood on the film. I was won back over thanks to the charm and comedy on display, but that's the kind of error I find somewhat inexcusable on something with as much money behind it as this. Aside from that though, there's not much to scoff at in terms of the production. The story is pretty by the numbers but for the most part it's pretty well shot, and the set/costume design along with the fun soundtrack fill this with fun and colour. I wouldn't go into this with sky high expectations, but for a sequel two decades removed from its original with a lead whose star has faded, Freakier Friday is a really fun time and if the kids in my showing were any indication, it's a pretty great family movie. 3.5/5
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