I've seen most of the other incarnations of the bodyswap premise in recent cinema (although I am overdue a rewatch of many of them). In the 1980s alone I was often enjoying a steady rotation of VHS favourites that included Freaky Friday (1976), Like Father Like Son (1987), Vice Versa (1988), and 18 Again! (1988). There were also the films that provided a slight variation on that main theme, whether that's Big (1988), All Of Me (1984), or, ummmmm, Dream A Little Dream (1989). The fun and anarchy of the idea has ensured that it regains popularity with film-makers every now and again. While not the earliest example, the fact that Vice Versa started off as a novel published in 1882, and a successful play starting a run just a year later, shows how enduring the concept is. I could list so many other films from recent years that worked with the central idea, some great and some not so great, but it's only necessary to consider the success of the 2003 Freaky Friday, the film that allowed Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis to have fun in the lead roles.
Which brings us to Freakier Friday. Curtis and Lohan are mother and daughter once again. They are Tess and Anna Coleman, respectively. Anna has her own teen daughter by now, Harper (Julia Butters). Harper ends up in an ongoing rivalry with a young British girl at her school named Lily (Sophia Hammons), which leads to Anna having to head in one day for a meeting with the Principal (played by X Mayo) and Lily's father, Eric (Manny Jacinto). Much to the dismay of Harper and Lily, Anna and Eric fall in love, eventually planning to marry. Tensions start to rise, which is when another bodyswap situation is created. Harper ends up in the body of Anna, Lily ends up in the body of Tess, and vice versa. There's detention to be navigated, a job that revolves around planning a concert for a big pop star, a distracting game of pickleball, and numerous other complications.
Written by Jordan Weiss, who had Elyse Hollander to help come up with the story, this is a rare feature directorial gig for Nisha Ganatra, who has been doing very good work on a number of different TV shows over the past decade or so. Maybe this will lead to Ganatra doing more features, but it's hard to say when so much of the joy comes from the cast appearing to have so much fun.
Alongside Lohan and Curtis, you get time for Mark Harmon and Chad Michael Murray to return, and there's even room for Pink Slip before the end credits roll (which have some very entertaining bloopers to guarantee you leave with a smile on your face). Despite the years that have passed since the previous film, everyone slips nice and easily into their old roles, and it's a major bonus that both Butters and Hammons are so good in their main roles. Jacinto doesn't have as much fun, but his job is to be earnest and increasingly bemused, while looking very handsome, and he does very well with that.
The main problem this film has is that it feels more like a Disney Channel product than a proper movie at times. You get the constant bright colours throughout every scene, you get a very lively score and soundtrack selection, and the first act may have you feeling, as I did, that you might have been better off just waiting until it arrived on Disney's own streaming service. Things do improve though, in how it adds some rough edges and complexity to the situation and how things are presented on the way to a predictable and satisfying finale.
This is definitely going to please fans of the 2003 movie that it follows, but it also does a really good job of being updated and fresh enough for newcomers who may well find themselves with a new favourite bit of family entertainment. While I am not sure if I'll enjoy it as much on a rewatch, I am quite sure that I WILL rewatch it before I go back to any of the films that sequelize or remake Mean Girls.
7/10
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