Freaky Friday (2003)
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A mother and daughter find themselves in a predicament of their own making when they inadvertently swap bodies through the magic of fortune cookies.
The story
Aspiring teenage musician Anna Coleman lives with her widowed psychiatrist mother Tess, younger brother Harry, and grandfather Alan. Tess is engaged to Ryan Volvo, a man Anna has not accepted as she struggles to reconcile with her father's death. At school, Anna deals with strict teachers and a difficult social circle. While dining at a Chinese restaurant, Anna and Tess get into a heated argument. The confrontation is interrupted by the distribution of fortune cookies. After reading their fortunes simultaneously, an intense earthquake occurs, and the next morning, the mother and daughter wake up to find they have swapped bodies.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After swapping bodies, Tess must navigate Anna's high school life, where she discovers the truth about Anna's teacher and the true nature of her former best friend, Stacey. Meanwhile, Anna must manage her mother's professional life and the stress of the upcoming wedding. They learn from a restaurant owner that only showing selfless love toward each other will reverse the switch. Anna learns to be kinder to her brother, while Tess realizes she misjudged Jake, a boy who is actually supportive. At the rehearsal dinner, the two realize the depth of each other's struggles: Tess recognizes Anna's musical passion, and Anna realizes how much her mother loves her. During a toast, they finally find mutual understanding, triggering an earthquake that returns them to their original bodies. The film ends with Tess and Ryan marrying, and Anna beginning a relationship with Jake.
- First release year
- 2003
- Runtime (minutes)
- 97
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Mark Waters
- Writers
- Heather Hach · writer; Leslie Dixon · writer
- Cast and characters
- Jamie Lee Curtis · Tess; Lindsay Lohan · Anna Coleman; Harold Gould · Alan; Chad Michael Murray · Jake; Mark Harmon · Ryan
- Genres
- fantasy; comedy
- Themes
- mother-daughter relationships; mutual understanding
- Tone and mood
- comedy; fantasy
- Setting
- Modern day, primarily in a suburban environment and a Chinese restaurant.
- Premise and plot tags
- body swap; fantasy; comedy
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1972 novel by Mary Rodgers
- Franchise connections
- Freaky Friday
- Reception
- The film was a commercial success and received largely positive reviews from critics, particularly for the performances of Lohan and Curtis.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 88% · scale: percentage · review count: 160; Metacritic · score: 70 · scale: 100 · review count: 36; Common Sense Media · score: 3 · scale: 5
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Globe Award · Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was named the best body swap comedy ever made by IndieWire in 2023.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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