'FREAKY FRIDAY' GETS A FINE UPDATE.Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer JAMIE LEE CURTIS  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. says with some pride that she's the most immature 44-year-old woman who could headline a movie. Her irrepressible teenage streak, and her gift of comic timing, serve her very well in ``Freaky Friday Freaky Friday is a children's novel by Mary Rodgers first published in the USA in 1972, in which a teenage girl, Annabelle Andrews, and her mother, Ellen Andrews, switch bodies and learn to understand each other better. ,'' Disney's remake of its 1976 comedy that has a mother and daughter cursed - and, it turns out, blessed - with switching bodies for one day. Tess Coleman (Curtis) is a psychologist who understands her patients' pains and anxieties quite well but can't seem to relate on the most basic level to her moody, mildly rebellious 15-year-old daughter, Anna (Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan (born July 2 1986) is an American actress and pop music singer. Lohan started in show business as a child fashion model for magazine advertisement and television commercials. ). ``Bye, honey,'' Tess chirps when dropping off Anna at school. ``Make good choices!'' Two days before the widowed Tess is to marry Ryan (Mark Harmon For the musician of the same name, see . Mark Thomas Harmon (born September 2, 1951) is an American actor. As of 2007, Harmon is the star of the CBS series NCIS. ), Tess and Anna are clashing in a Chinese restaurant See:
The proprietor intervenes with some wacky fortune cookies, and the spell is cast that will make for one freaky Friday for the battling pair. The fortune tells them an act of selfless love will undo the spell, but they overlook that important clue while absorbed in their attempts to preserve, in the mother's case, a career and relationship with Ryan and, in the daughter's case, a budding romance with a really cute guy named Jake (Chad Michael Murray Chad Michael Murray (born August 24, 1981) is an American actor, former male fashion model and teen idol. He is perhaps best known for his role as Lucas Scott in The CW series One Tree Hill. ). Throughout that Friday, their struggles range from wardrobe panic and strange turns of phrase (Anna barks ``Don't start with me!'' at Tess, while the normally affectionate, sedate se·date v. To administer a sedative to; calm or relieve by means of a sedative drug. Tess sneers ``Loser!'' at her younger son, played by Ryan Malgarini) to the day-to-day matters each presumed the other skated through. Anna cannot cope with Tess' battery of communication devices, let alone finalize wedding details and treat her patients. And Tess, sporting Anna's belly ring, is a fish out of water among school friends, teachers and tests. Along the way, they pick up insights about each other's struggles and learn valuable lessons from listening to comments not intended for their own ears. A turning point for both comes when Anna's bandmates nab her at the rehearsal dinner and plead with her to join them at the House of Blues. The very unmusical Tess never really enjoyed or supported her daughter's hobby, but now she must pretend to know what she's doing with a guitar, for Anna's sake. It's hard to decide which one steals that scene - Curtis convincingly wailing on the guitar from the wings or the wide-eyed Lohan bopping about on stage, unplugged, with moves Tess probably picked up from watching the Archies. Lohan, best-remembered for her feature debut as the twins in Disney's 1998 version of ``The Parent Trap,'' remains a genuine charmer charm·er n. 1. One that charms, especially a disarmingly attractive person. 2. One who casts spells; an enchanter or magician. Noun 1. without cutsying up the role. Her Anna isn't perfect, nor is she trying to be, so you can't help rooting for her. There's plenty for any 40-something mom to envy in Curtis' role as well - from the high-spirited wardrobe her daughter buys and the way she puts the sensible Volvo's pedal to the metal, to the sparkle in her eyes as she flirts with the adorable Jake. Director Mark Waters and first-time screenwriter Heather Hach have given a fresh sensibility to an oft-told fable of walking in another's shoes, be they sensible pumps or frisky frisk·y adj. frisk·i·er, frisk·i·est Energetic, lively, and playful: a frisky kitten. frisk Jimmy Choos. Valerie Kuklenski, (818) 713-3750 valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com FREAKY FRIDAY - Three stars (PG: mild thematic elements, some language) Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray. Director: Mark Waters. Running time: 1 hr. 35 min. Playing: Citywide. In a nutshell: A smart remake of the 1976 Jodie Foster vehicle with Curtis and Lohan as a mother and daughter who come to understand each other much better after a day in each other's shoes - and bodies. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Jamie Lee Curtis, left, and Lindsay Lohan play mother and daughter who involuntarily switch bodies in ``Freaky Friday.'' |
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