Freaky Friday (2003) - Lohan/Curtis delight in M. Waters' solid body swap comedy

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+ Best Fantasy Movie of the Year

Colorful hijinks is promised from the two game stars, who have swapped outfits on this poster for Mark Waters' Freaky Friday

A mother and her teenage daughter don't get along and mock each other. Now fortune cookies from a Chinese restaurant cause them to switch bodies, until they learn to respect and love each other again.

Freaky Friday is written by Heather Hach (What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012)) and Leslie Dixon (Pay It Forward (2000)), based on the same-titled 1972 novel by Mary Rodgers (The Rotten Book (1969)), which was previously adapted as the hit movie Freaky Friday (1976) as well as a same-titled 1995 TV movie. This one is directed by great Michigander filmmaker Mark Waters (Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)).
Freaky Friday distinguishes itself as a surprisingly good and funny high-concept chick-flick fantasy romcom; it is totally banal and predictable but well-made.
The story is handled very well, and the film has funny scenes (like the talkshow and rock concert scenes) and good performances from Lindsay Lohan (Just My Luck (2006)) and especially Jamie Lee Curtis (Scream Queens (2015-16)), which make it thrive. Body language and phrases are aptly swapped between the two characters, making this a funny and well-written hit for all.

Related posts:

Mark Waters: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011) - Waters and Carrey's great family movie 
Mean Girls (2004) - Lohan, Waters and Fey's high school satire triumph

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 20 mil. $
Box office: 160.8 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 8.04 times its cost)
[Freaky Friday premiered 4 August (Hollywood, California) and runs 97 minutes. Jodie Foster, star of the 1976 iteration, declined the offer for Curtis' role, which Annette Bening was then signed on to play but dropped due to family obligations; Curtis only got the role 4 days before filming began. Filming took place in California, including Los Angeles, from October - December 2002. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release S.W.A.T., to a 22.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 4 weeks in the top 5 (#4-#4-#2-#4) and grossed 110.2 mil. $ (68.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 11.9 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Germany with 6 mil. $ (3.7 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, in line with this review. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe. Waters returned with Mean Girls (2004). Lohan returned in 3 shorts before her next theatrical appearance in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), Curtis in Christmas with the Kranks (2004). Freaky Friday is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Freaky Friday?

Mean Girls (2004) - Lohan, Waters and Fey's high school satire triumph

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Lindsay Lohan and, behind her, 'the Plastics' (Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams and Lacey Chabert) for Mark Waters' Mean Girls

Cady has been home-schooled in Africa until her 16th year, in which she will start in a regular American high school. There she soon falls into a difficult dilemma: Should she avoid the popular, shallow girls, try to expose and bring them down, or join them?

Mean Girls became a teen sensation 10 years ago, - mostly for teen girls, understandably, - and it's a smart high school satire comedy/chick flick with a romance subplot. Based on a non-fiction self-help-book book by Rosalind Wiseman (Queen Bees and Wannabes (2002)), the script is written by Tina Fey (This Is Where I Leave You (2014), actress), who also plays a funny supporting role as Cady's struggling, good-hearted math teacher. It's good writing, basically, with many amusing ideas played out in the well-paced movie. In the end, though, SPOILER things come together somewhat too neatly for Cady, I think, and Mean Girls loses some of its realism and ends as a package a little too clean for my taste. I was also a little disappointed to see Cady's friend Janis, who more or less outs herself as gay towards the end, in which everything else seems to come together, began dating a guy (...), - while the other gay male friend went nowhere. In the end of Mean Girls, you might say that Fey chose to dump the two substantial gay characters of her teen movie into a black hole.
Mean Girls features a young Lindsay Lohan (The Canyons (2013)), who is both very charming and a natural, good center for the film. Rachel McAdams (Morning Glory (2010)) is fun as the insidious 'queen bee', and SNL-regulars Amy Poehler (They Came Together (2014)) and Tim Meadows (The Ladies' Man (2000)) are hilarious as McAdams' racy mom and the principal.

Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Cabert next to an uncomfortable Lindsay Lohan in Mark Waters' Mean Girls

The details:

Many people really love Mean Girls, and it is a fun and entertaining film to watch, while it also has some edifying points about the futility and hurtfulness of bullying. It is high-paced and a little talky, and some may be put off slightly by the bitchy teen girl characters in it and draw a big breath after, happy that their general level of drama isn't a norm in most people's lives.
The film won Lohan a string of Teen Choice and MTV awards and was the preliminary peak of her career, before things started going awry and down-hill with DUI's, rehab visits, legal problems etc. etc. Film Excess is still hoping that she'll emerge on the other side as a strong woman sooner rather than later.
Mean Girls is directed by Mark Waters, who lately put out the overlooked Vampire Academy (2014), (many of us have simply had a little much of teenage vampires, I suppose.) He has also directed such hits as Freaky Friday (2003), - another Lohan-starring hit comedy, - and Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), a delightful family comedy with Jim Carrey.

Watch the trailer here

Cost: 17 mil. $
Box office: 129 mil. $
= Huge hit
[With happening young actors, first class comedic material, a pop star-studded soundtrack and good reviews, no wonder that Mean Girls struck gold. 66 % of its earnings were from North America.]

What do you think of Mean Girls?
What's your favorite high school comedy?