Otro viernes de locos

This was honestly a lot better than I expected it to be. I went in with very low expectations and wanted to see it just for a shout out to my childhood but it was honestly hilarious. I was laughing almost the whole movie. Jamie Lee Curtis is so funny and the return of Chad Michael Murray as Jake. Love it. Go see this movie if you are from my generation. Trust me it's hilarious.

I'm sure people who liked the first one, will like this one as well. However, for some reason I think that 35+ year old people will appreciate it more than youngsters, especially us millenial Lindsey Lohan fans who grew up with her excellent movies in the 90s and 00s. I must admit I'm really happy she got her life back together and is acting again.

On the negative side, it would have been a bit better if this was a 90 minute movie, which I find to be a perfect length for comedies. I really hope that Naked Gun and this movie will be the start of a big screen comedy comeback because last 10 years have been horrible to comedies.

The most enjoyable thing about body swaps is truly getting to see the actor become the other character. Face/Off, Big, 13 Going on 30, both Freaky Fridays, etc - you really feel the role reversal. That's what made the 2003 version so endearing, you really enjoyed the characters trapped in the other body like it actually happened. I'd say JLC was really the only one that truly succeeded in that regard here. *Saying* dialog or wearing different clothes or being uncomfortable doesn't cut it. Lilo was enjoyable all around, but she didn't truly take on the other character as well as last time. Probably because the teens weren't that memorable as JLC and Lilo swapping were. And the dual swaps with actors that aren't as memorable for their caricatures or impressions made the movie really confusing, and I was continually using too much brain power to try and remember who was really who, and a good body swap shouldn't have that problem.

I'm a little frustrated with the marketing, that we've been fed so much of the legacy characters, to spend so much time with these newcomers. I get the need to reach all audiences, so I know there's no way around that, but I would have loved to see more involvement from Mark Harmon (Tess' husband Ryan) and Ryan Margarini (Anna's younger brother). Chad Michael Murray (Jake) was also under utilized, as well as Pink Slip. There were more included from the legacy cast than I expected, but they were too short.

Overall I laughed and cried and smiled, but having Tess' husband and Anna's younger brother swap would have been more fun than two newcomers. I was a little too confused to say that I enjoyed it more than the first one, and the characters broke reality a few too many times with jokes for the sake of age rather than what characters would realistically do. As an editor myself, the movie could have lost about 10 minutes for better comedy pacing.

This film won't be remembered for its stellar body swapping, but younger audiences will for sure enjoy the antics and everyone with a heart will get the feels at the end, and the family might just be a little closer to each other. For everyone's sake, I hope the film makes a profit so we can see Freakiest Friday in 20 years - but please, have JLC and Lilo swap places again.

Freakier Friday was, I hate to say it, a slight let down!

The original worked so well and had fun comedy and a good emotional element, but this instalment just didn't seem remotely fresh. Instead, it just seems to hash over the same story beats as the first film, but this time with an additional body swap scenario that added nothing of real value and just made the whole thing feel a bit messy.

In fact, this is my main gripe with the film. Having Jamie Lee Curtis' Tess swap bodies with Sophia Hammons' Lily just seems utterly pointless. It was shoehorned in so that Jamie Lee Curtis could be let loose, but it served no real emotional value. It was also very annoying that the two characters didn't act like they were in the other's body! After the swap, they just felt like two completely different characters. At least with Lindsey Lohan and Julia Butters, they actually felt like they were playing the other character.

Aside from this major gripe, the plot also just felt a bit repetitive of the first film just with more people. It also was hard to root for the main characters as they are trying to split up a loving relationship, and considering the end was so obvious what was going to happen it makes the journey there a little tiresome at times.

Ultimately though I know this film shouldn't be taken so seriously. It's tongue in cheek and it does have lots of good comedy, and the emotional moments are strong when they focus on Lindsey Lohan's Anna and her daughter. The performances are all pretty good, and I think Manny Jacinto as Anna's fiance is a great addition.

Despite being a let down compared to the original one, it is still funny enough and is worth a watch for fans of the first film.

I just got out of Freakier Friday.

A legacy sequel to a fun remake. What can go wrong??

Not a lot, really, I liked the Jodie Foster version and had fun with the remake. This was when Lohan was at the top of her games.

Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis are front and centre in this, (which I'm glad about, as I was worried the younger cast were going to dominate) and they still play well off each other!! There scenes were my favourite in the movie. The other girls, Julia Butters who plays Lohan's daughter (and later Lohan) and Sophia Hammond who plays Lohan's soon to be daughter in law (and later Jamie Lee Curtis) are both great, too. Manny Jacinto is perfect as Lohan's husband to be, Mark Harmon is back, but isn't given much to do and I don't think he even shared a scene with Lohan.

The ending is quite emotional, it does have a lot of heart to it. Especially if you have kids or have lost a parent.

This feels like this was filmed as a streaming movie, that the decided to go theatrical, with. It just feels small scale. It is a bit convoluted and the swapping around is more than a bit confusing at first. A few times, I had to take a minute and think who I was watching!! It has pacing issues, but when the premise is this complicated, it's to be expected and the dialogue can often be clunky and awkward.

Overall I liked it, it was good to see Lohan back on the big screen.