Freaky Friday (2003)

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

The 2003 Freaky Friday was the second remake of the 1976 Freaky Friday, but the first one that was theatrical.

Similar to the original film and the 1972 novel by Mary Rodgers, the film is about a mother and daughter who manage to swap bodies with each other. In this film, Tess Coleman, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, is a hard-working, widowed psychologist, who is often at odds with her teenage daughter, Anna Coleman, played by Lindsay Lohan. After they get into a heated argument at a Chinese restaurant, they unknowingly swap bodies due to a Chinese fortune cookie (it’s a whole thing).

When they awake the next day, they can’t believe what’s happened and must live each other’s lives until they figure out how to swap bodies again. This is further complicated by the fact that Tess is getting married to Ryan, played by Mark Harmon, the next day! As you can imagine, hijinks ensue as they navigate that as well as navigating Anna’s upcoming musical audition and crush on Jake Austin, played by Chad Michael Murray.

Like the original film, the acting by the two main actresses was phenomenal and is especially evident when they have to envelop each other’s personalities! I also found the film to be more emotional than the original film; like you really feel for Ryan when he starts to doubt that Tess loves him when Anna is in her body.

Another thing I liked about this version is that Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan share many scenes together when they’ve swapped bodies, whereas Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster, didn’t in the original film.

That’s not to say this film was amazing. I mean, it felt exactly like an early 2000s comedy and the introduction of Chinese voodoo was definitely weird!

All in all, I do prefer the original film, but this one wasn’t bad either.

So, my final score for this film is 25/35 = 71.43% (C-) !

The next review will be posted on September 22, 2026.