Taglines: Every teenager’s nightmare…turning into her mother.
The wide generation gap between Tess Coleman and her teenage daughter Anna is more than evident. They simply cannot understand each other’s preferences. On a Thursday night they have a big argument in a Chinese restaurant. Both receive a fortune cookie each from the restaurant owner’s mother which causes them to switch bodies next day. As they adjust with their new personalities, they begin to understand each other more and eventually it’s the mutual self-respect that sorts the things out.
Freaky Friday is an American fantasy comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers. It stars Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman and Jamie Lee Curtis as her mother Tess Coleman. In the film their souls are switched due to an enchanted Chinese fortune cookie. It also stars Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, Harold Gould, and Julie Gonzalo. This is Disney’s second remake of the original 1976 film starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. A 1995 television remake was produced by ABC, which became a subsidiary of Disney the following year.
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $22,203,007 in 2,954 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking No. 2 at the box office, behind S.W.A.T.. By the end of its run, Freaky Friday grossed $110,230,332 in the US and $50,616,000 internationally, totaling $160,846,332 worldwide.
Anna Coleman (Lindsay Lohan) is an average teenager who constantly fights with her stodgy widow mother Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) and annoying younger brother Harry (Ryan Malgarini). The two often fight about Anna’s rock band which Tess hates because she thinks that they are all noise, Tess’s upcoming second marriage to Ryan (Mark Harmon) which Anna is not emotionally ready for because her father died three years ago, and Anna’s claims about her archrival Stacey Hinkhouse (Julie Gonzalo) who doesn’t stop torturing her and has Tess convinced that she and Anna are still best friends like they used to be and sadistic English teacher, Mr. Bates (Stephen Tobolowsky) who gives her an “F” on everything she does no matter how hard she tries. Tess also disapproves of Anna’s crush, Jake (Chad Michael Murray), and refuses to let Anna see him.
The entire family, plus Ryan, eats out at Pei Pei’s Chinese restaurant, where Anna begs Tess to let her go on an important audition with the band. However, Tess refuses to let her go since the show is at the same time as the rehearsal dinner. The two begin arguing again until Pei-Pei’s mother interrupts to give them fortune cookies, which contain a body switching spell. The next day, Tess and Anna wake up in each other’s bodies.
They realize the fortune cookies are responsible for the switch but cannot go directly to the restaurant as Anna has to go to school and Tess has to attend to her therapy patients. At school, Tess realizes that Anna is not only right about Stacy when she assaults her and Mr. Bates gives her an “F” on a pop quiz about Shakespeare’s Hamlet even though she answered everything right. She soon realizes that he was a former classmate who asked her out to the prom, but turned him down, and is now taking it out on Anna. She threatens to report him to the school board unless he stops abusing Anna.
Meanwhile, before Anna goes to Tess’s office, she gives Tess’s body a makeover, much to Tess’s dismay. Unfortunately, Anna does not know how to handle Tess’s very needy patients apart from a mother who visits her about her concerns for her daughter. At lunch time, Anna and Tess go back to the restaurant to confront Pei Pei and her mother, but Pei Pei explains that only showing selfless love to one another will break the spell.
In the afternoon, Anna attends Harry’s parent-teacher conference, where she reads a composition about how much Harry admires Anna. Anna sees her brother in a different light and vows to treat him kinder. Meanwhile, Tess attempts to make amends with Stacey but Stacey frames her for cheating. Jake helps her finish the test, which makes Tess realize that she has misjudged him. Unfortunately, Jake is no longer enamored with Anna after Tess sabotages Stacey’s test.
Meanwhile, Ryan surprises Anna with an interview on a talk show to discuss Tess’s new psychology book. However, Anna turns the interview into a wild romp to cover the fact she hasn’t read the book. Tess and Jake catch the interview on TV and while Tess is embarrassed, Jake is impressed. Later, Anna bumps into Jake at a coffee shop and they bond over their favorite music. Jake begins to fall in love with Anna in Tess’s body and attempts to pursue her, much to the real Tess’s horror.
Directed by: Mark Waters
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Harold Gould, Chad Michael Murray, Mark Harmon, Christina Vidal, Rosalind Chao, Lucille Soong, Dina Spybey-Waters
Screenplay by: Heather Hach, Leslie Dixon
Production Design by: Cary White
Cinematography by: Oliver Wood
Film Editing by: Bruce Green
Costume Design by: Genevieve Tyrrell
Set Decoration by: Barbara Haberecht
Music by: Rolfe Kent
MPAA Rating: PG for mild thematic elements and some language.
Studio: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: August 6, 2003
