As an admitted nostalgia nerd, I was eagerly anticipating “Freakier Friday,” sequel to “Freaky Friday” (2003), in which ‘mama’ Jamie Lee Curtis and her teenage ‘daughter’ Lindsay Lohan inadvertently exchange bodies.
In this updated version, psychotherapist Tess Colman (Curtis) is helping her now-30ish single daughter Anna (Lohan) prepare for her upcoming marriage to widowed Eric Davies (Manny Jacinto), a London restauranteur who just opened a new venue in Los Angeles.
Problem is: Anna’s surly ‘surfer’ teenage daughter Harper (Julia Butters), loathes Eric’s snobbish ‘fashionista’ teenage daughter Lily (Sophia Hammons) and dreads the idea of moving to London.
A quirk of fate leads them to a phony part-time palm-reading psychic (Vanessa Bauer) who seemingly causes a four-way body swap. Suddenly, Grandma Tess inhabits mean-girl Lily’s body and Lily is in Tess’s – while mother Anna is in daughter Harper’s body and Harper is in Anna’s.
Sounds confusing? It is!
That’s because screenwriter Jordan Weiss (“Dollface”) and director Nisha Ganatra (“Late Night”) fail to delineate innate relationships and individual characterizations. For example: if Tess is in Lily’s body, shouldn’t she try to imitate Lily’s British accent? Conversely, why doesn’t Lily talk like elderly Tess?
Obviously, the actresses do their best with what little they’re given.
In a stunning career renaissance, 67 year-old Jamie Lee Curtis has demonstrated her versatility, while 39 year-old Lindsay Lohan recaptures the charismatic comic timing that originally launched her career.
But – bottom line – this awkward wannabe comedy just isn’t funny.
In addition, Anna was the former leader of the rock band Pink Slip; she now manages the career of Ella (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), a distressed global pop star. That inevitably leads to a forgettable musical interlude. Even worse are a high-school bake-sale food fight and pathetic Pickleball sequence.
On the other hand, one bright spot is the throwback re-appearance of Chad Michael Murray as Anna’s high-school crush Jake, who has always yearned for Tess.
FYI: The original concept is based on Mary Rodgers’ 1972 children’s novel.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Freakier Friday” is a floundering 4, playing in theaters.
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Susan Granger
Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in Journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has appeared on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie critic for many years. Read all her reviews at susangranger.com.
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