Freaky Friday (2003 film)

Freaky Friday

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mark Waters
Produced by Andrew Gunn
Screenplay by Heather Hach
Leslie Dixon
Based on Freaky Friday 
by Mary Rodgers
Starring Jamie Lee Curtis
Lindsay Lohan
Harold Gould
Chad Michael Murray
Mark Harmon
Music by Rolfe Kent
Cinematography Oliver Wood
Edited by Bruce Green
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates
  • August 6, 2003 (2003-08-06)
Running time
 97 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $20 million
Box office $160.8 million

Freaky Friday is a 2003 American fantasy-comedy teen film directed by Mark Waters, produced by Gunn Films and Andrew Gunn, written by Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon with music by Rolfe Kent and 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, Harold Gould, and Chad Michael Murray. Freaky Friday was released in cinemas on August 6, 2003 by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Pictures. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and it earned $160.8 million on a $20 million budget. This is Disney's second remake of the original 1976 film starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. Freaky Friday was released on DVD and VHS on December 16, 2003 by Walt Disney Home Video. A 1995 television remake was produced by ABC, which became a subsidiary of Disney the following year.

Plot

Fifteen year-old 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 conflicts are: Anna's pop punk/pop rock band Pink Slip (in which Anna plays lead guitar and sings backing and lead vocals) which Tess hates because according to Anna, she thinks that they are all noise, Tess' 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; sadistic English teacher, Mr. Elton 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), an older student.

The entire family, plus Ryan, eats out at Pei-Pei's House of Chang 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 on the same Friday 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, causing an earthquake only they felt. The next day, Tess and Anna wake up in each other's bodies, figuring that 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, taking each other's roles. At school, Tess finds that Anna is not only right about Stacey when she assaults her, but Mr. Bates also gives her an "F" on a pop quiz about Shakespeare's Hamlet even though she answered everything right. She soon recognizes him as a former classmate who asked her out to the prom, but she turned him down, and he is now taking it out on Anna. She threatens to report him to the school board unless he stops abusing Anna.

Before Anna goes to Tess' office, she gives Tess' body a makeover, much to her dismay. 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 actually admires Anna. She sees her brother in a different light and vows to treat him nicer. 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' 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 "Tess" and attempts to pursue her, much to the real Tess' horror.

At the rehearsal dinner, Anna's bandmates come to try to convince "Anna" to sneak off to the audition but they are caught by security. Ryan surprises Tess and Anna by giving "Anna" permission to go. Ryan explains that he just wants the kids to accept him and Ryan urges "Tess" to go support the band, finally winning her over. Since Tess can't play, Anna unplugs her guitar and plays while Tess mimes along and enjoys doing so. Jake is in the audience and he realizes that Anna is the one for him. Tess also realizes how fun music is and promises to treat Anna's band with more respect. Back at the wedding rehearsal, Tess tells Anna to ask Ryan to postpone the wedding, so that Anna will not have to go through marrying him in her mother's body. Instead, Anna proposes a toast where she finally accepts Ryan because of how happy he makes Tess. This is the final act of selfless love needed to break the spell and another earthquake has the two switch back bodies. On the wedding day, Tess and Ryan marry, and Anna and Jake start dating with Tess' approval. Anna's band also plays at the wedding. Pei-Pei's mother attempts to give Harry and Grandpa the body switching fortune cookies when they argue, but Pei-Pei confiscates them in the nick of time.

Cast

Production

The film's producer Andrew Gunn said he initially hoped Jodie Foster (who played the daughter Annabel in the original 1976 Freaky Friday film) would be interested in playing the mother in the remake. Foster declined in order to spend more time with her family and because of concerns that the stunt casting would overshadow the movie's overall merit.[1] Annette Bening was then cast in the role, but dropped out because of family obligations. Jamie Lee Curtis was given the role only four days before filming began.[2] Lindsay Lohan's character was originally written as a Goth, but she did not think anyone would relate to that, and decided to dress in a preppy style for her audition. The character ended up being re-written.[3] Marc McClure, who played Boris Harris, Annabel's love interest in the original film, has a brief cameo as Boris the delivery man.[1] Director Mark Waters also makes a cameo holding a baby at the wedding. In the end scene when Anna is dancing with Jake, there is a woman in the background dancing with an older gentleman, and she looks directly at the camera. This woman is Lindsay Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan. Ryan Shuck coached Jamie Lee Curtis to play the guitar solo for the concert scene. Lindsay Lohan trained for one year to learn to play the guitar before production.[4] The snapshots in the opening credits are photos of Jamie Lee Curtis and her daughter, Annie Guest. Kelly Osbourne was originally set to play Maddie, but dropped out because she did not want to do a children's movie. She was replaced by Christina Vidal.[5][6]

Home media

Freaky Friday was released on DVD and VHS on December 16, 2003 by Walt Disney Home Video.

Reception

Box office

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.[7]

Critical reception

The film received mostly positive reviews. It currently has a "B" grade on Yahoo! Movies, and an 88% "Certified Fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Some reviewers, however, objected to the caricatured portrayal of Chinese people in the key body switching scene, with Nick Schager of Slant Magazine calling it "a strange bit of 'Oriental mysticism' stereotyping that seems at odds with the film’s thematic focus on tolerance and understanding."[8] Jamie Lee Curtis's performance was singled out for praise by many critics. David Ansen of Newsweek noted that, "the most startling metamorphosis is Curtis's transformation from fading horror-flick queen to dazzling comedienne. She goes on a teenage tear—tormenting Anna's younger brother (who wonders why Mom's acting so weird), getting down and dirty on a TV talk show where Tess is supposed to discuss her book on aging—with fiercely funny conviction."[9] Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly called her performance "glorious",[10] and A. O. Scott from The New York Times contended that she "does some of her best work ever [in Freaky Friday]."[11] Nick Davis described her as "so frisky and pouty and incandescent in Freaky Friday, she made the whole movie feel like something special."[12] Her performance was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Lohan's performance was also praised: critic Roger Ebert wrote that Lohan "has that Jodie Foster sort of seriousness and intent focus beneath her teenage persona."[13] Freaky Friday earned Lohan the award for Breakthrough Performance at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards.[14]

Soundtrack

The orchestral score was written by Rolfe Kent and orchestrated by Tony Blondal.

Awards and nominations

List awards to film and actress/actors.

Won
Nominated

References

  1. 1 2 Kuklenski, Valerie (August 13, 2003). "Disney's the King of Remakes". The Ledger. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ Gritten, David (December 20, 2003). "I'm still here". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  3. ↑ Peretz, Evgenia (Feb 2006). "Confessions of a Teenage Movie Queen". Vanity Fair (Condé Nast) (546): 120. ISSN 0733-8899. Retrieved September 3, 2008. As the script was written, the character was Goth, Lohan recalls: "No one could relate to the character when she was really Goth. There was nothing there." She took it upon herself to change it – before the audition. "I dressed really preppy," she says. "I wore a collared turquoise Abercrombie & Fitch shirt and khaki pants, swear to God, with a white headband. And my hair was really straight and pretty and red and blond. My agent calls and was like, 'What are you doing?!'" The studio ended up re-writing the character entirely.
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYpwv-66pFg
  5. ↑ Video on YouTube
  6. ↑ "Kelly Osbourne Won't Get 'Freaky'". Billboard. September 12, 2002. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Freaky Friday (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
  8. ↑ Schager, Nick. "Freaky Friday," Slant Magazine (Aug. 2, 2003).
  9. ↑ Newsweek. "MOM IS TEEN FOR A DAY". Retrieved August 18, 2003.
  10. ↑ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (July 31, 2003). "Freaky Friday (2003)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  11. ↑ Scott, A. O. (August 6, 2003). "Film Review; Walking in Mom's Shoes With Mom's Feet, Too". The New York Times. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  12. ↑ Nick Davis. "Best Actress, 2003". Retrieved 2003.
  13. ↑ Ebert, Roger (August 6, 2003). "Freaky Friday". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
  14. ↑ "2004 Movie Awards Winners". MTV. Retrieved November 14, 2009.

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