- Starring
- Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan
- Director
- Mark Waters
- Rating
- PG
- Genre
- Comedy, Family, Fantasy
- Release date
- Aug 6, 2003
- Where to watch
- Disney+
In Freaky Friday (2003), Tess Coleman, a strict psychiatrist, and her rebellious teenage daughter Anna clash constantly over their differing lifestyles. After a mystical fortune cookie incident at a Chinese restaurant, they wake up swapped into each other’s bodies. Forced to navigate each other’s lives—Anna as a stressed-out mom and Tess as a high schooler—they confront misunderstandings, school drama, and Tess’s upcoming wedding plans. Through their chaotic day, they gain insight into each other’s struggles and work to reverse the swap while rebuilding their strained relationship.
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Freaky Friday isn’t the only movie, television show or book that uses the “body swap” plot, but it’s one of the most iconic.
When it comes to other people in our lives, especially those we think we are close to, we really don’t know that much about them. We only know about the parts when we’re standing in the same room with each other and we don’t really see what they’re doing or thinking the rest of the time. We only get to see each other during the stressful morning routines and the confrontational evening dinners and not during our working hours, or vice versa. We only see the “highlight reel” or the “gag reel” but not the raw footage, and we don’t always get the whole story. We make assumptions based on our limited perceptions of the other person and don’t fully understand what their challenges are. And, in other cases, we make assumptions and rationalizations about ourselves and don’t realize how others see us. What we see is the orderly, professional psychologist Tess genuinely wants what’s best for her daughter Anna but doesn’t see how her constant need to get her way makes her tone and actions seem harsh. Meanwhile, punk rocker Anna is more intelligent than she appears and does have real problems, but her tendency to be whiny and moody makes it difficult to take her seriously because she sounds like she’s exaggerating things.
Body swapping naturally loans itself to obvious gags. It works best if two people are reasonably close to each other yet are complete opposites. The characters will find it unusually difficult to navigate the other person’s life, especially without the proper context or the proper skillset intended for the role. There’s plenty of humor to be had in seeing people acting completely unlike themselves, or taking advantage of privileges that they otherwise wouldn’t have such as driving a car and splurging with credit cards. It’s also an opportunity for them to discover more about themselves. There are several points during the movie where people admit private things to Anna and Tess that they wouldn’t say around the other person publicly to dramatic and emotional effect. Anna’s little brother is a little brat, but he admits to his mother that he secretly admires his older sister; he just won’t say that directly to her face.
One of the things that makes the 2003 version of Freaky Friday stand out is the soundtrack. Anna is a guitar player in a serious garage band, and she not only plays music but also loves to listen to music. That plays a big role in her character and her budding relationship with her love interest, and in the way the story unfolds when her band’s audition at the House of Blues interferes with her mother’s wedding rehearsal dinner. The big musical number is not only the film’s action climax, but also the point where Anna and Tess are encouraged to stop selfishly fighting each other and start supporting each other’s needs.
We don’t really know that much about each other, and we don’t really share that much either because we’re afraid of being too candidly honest or because we think we don’t have much in common. But there’s a lot more to being ourselves than we realize. We don’t see how others see us. And it doesn’t hurt to be patient with others; they have their own problems that you probably don’t know about, too.
Freaky Friday isn’t the only movie, television show or book that uses the “body swap” plot, but it’s one of the most iconic.
When it comes to other people in our lives, especially those we think we are close to, we really don’t know that much about them. We only know about the parts when we’re standing in the same room with each other and we don’t really see what they’re doing or thinking the rest of the time. We only get to see each other during the stressful morning routines and the confrontational evening dinners and not during our working hours, or vice versa. We only see the “highlight reel” or the “gag reel” but not the raw footage, and we don’t always get the whole story. We make assumptions based on our limited perceptions of the other person and don’t fully understand what their challenges are. And, in other cases, we make assumptions and rationalizations about ourselves and don’t realize how others see us. What we see is the orderly, professional psychologist Tess genuinely wants what’s best for her daughter Anna but doesn’t see how her constant need to get her way makes her tone and actions seem harsh. Meanwhile, punk rocker Anna is more intelligent than she appears and does have real problems, but her tendency to be whiny and moody makes it difficult to take her seriously because she sounds like she’s exaggerating things.
Body swapping naturally loans itself to obvious gags. It works best if two people are reasonably close to each other yet are complete opposites. The characters will find it unusually difficult to navigate the other person’s life, especially without the proper context or the proper skillset intended for the role. There’s plenty of humor to be had in seeing people acting completely unlike themselves, or taking advantage of privileges that they otherwise wouldn’t have such as driving a car and splurging with credit cards. It’s also an opportunity for them to discover more about themselves. There are several points during the movie where people admit private things to Anna and Tess that they wouldn’t say around the other person publicly to dramatic and emotional effect. Anna’s little brother is a little brat, but he admits to his mother that he secretly admires his older sister; he just won’t say that directly to her face.
One of the things that makes the 2003 version of Freaky Friday stand out is the soundtrack. Anna is a guitar player in a serious garage band, and she not only plays music but also loves to listen to music. That plays a big role in her character and her budding relationship with her love interest, and in the way the story unfolds when her band’s audition at the House of Blues interferes with her mother’s wedding rehearsal dinner. The big musical number is not only the film’s action climax, but also the point where Anna and Tess are encouraged to stop selfishly fighting each other and start supporting each other’s needs.
We don’t really know that much about each other, and we don’t really share that much either because we’re afraid of being too candidly honest or because we think we don’t have much in common. But there’s a lot more to being ourselves than we realize. We don’t see how others see us. And it doesn’t hurt to be patient with others; they have their own problems that you probably don’t know about, too.