Freaky Friday

Great role for Gaby Hoffman! My family enjoyed this one quite a bit. At times, tears came to our eyes! Shelley Long also does well, as does the rest of the cast. I did expect the movie to be a bit closer to the original, but I believe that they were trying to portray the actual events, not the writings such as what the first was based upon. - - THIS SHOWS HOW PARENTS NEED TO BE PART OF A CHILD'S LIFE. ALL DEAD BEAT PARENTS NEED TO SEE THIS! - FUN!I am a huge fan of the remake of Freaky Friday, and I decided to rent the second remake, the supposedly much better and funnier version. The idea was nice, a very good and original plot, but nothing about this movie was funny enough to keep me laughing. The sounds and music were scary at some times, but i was expecting more laugh out loud humor. Freaky Friday seemed short and predictable too me but that was probably because the American remake version added lots more stuff and funnier jokes to it that this movie didn't have. I think that the Jamie Lee Curtis/Lindsay Lohan version and the original movie starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris. 6/10

Freaky Friday is a great movie starring Gaby Hoffmann and Shelley Long who play mother and daughter who switch places for a day. This version of Freaky Friday is *much* better than the original. (Don't get me wrong though, the original is okay.) Gaby Hoffmann is a brilliant actress and as usual she gives a fantastic performance here. Freaky Friday is a movie for everyone, especially if you like family-type movies. I give Freaky Friday a 10/10.

I had the opportunity of seeing the original version of this movie when I was in third grade. Believe it or not, this was the first movie that I ever saw Jodie Foster in--not "Taxi Driver" (considering that I was 9, that was probably a good thing).

This was not a bad movie, and it wasn't intended to be identical to the original, but the peripheral characters in this version fell flat. Sandra Bernhard was stifled--not very funny at all, just kind of stuffy and bitchy. And I was expecting a spunky "tomboy" Annabelle like Jodie Foster's, not the subdued, frustrated suburban teenager that Gaby Hoffman played (although that's actually closer to Mary Rodgers' novel). And NOBODY could play Mrs. Andrews like Barbara Harris. The sight of her waterskiing in a velvet evening dress with her false eyelashes coming off was just too priceless!

One thing I DID like about this version, though: the red convertible VW bug that Shelley Long drives is identical to the one that Barbara Harris drove in the original! I was so afraid we'd be seeing a BMW or some other yuppie wussy-wagon. Thank God for SOME tradition!

In short, don't watch the original version before you see this one. Let this one stand on its own first. It isn't made to be compared, but it's inevitable that you will compare it.

Let me just say this was a hard movie to figure out how to watch, but I was eventually able to find it.

This is the remake that is essentially the exact same film just made in a different time period.

The characters are named the same characters.

Every plot point is the exact same as the original film.

Almost ever scene is almost a shot for shot remake, just they tweaked it just enough so it's not the exact same scene.

Because this film is essentially the original film, but just a tad bit different.

All the enjoyment is still there because it's freaky Friday if you love that concept, it's all still in here. But you're not missing much because it's the exact same thing.

Happy made-for-TV remake of the 1970s original, starring Shelly Long. Very typical, predictable, and not all that funny, but also very watchable and earnest, clean entertainment. I heard the newest remake with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan is much better - but this one is okay, I suppose.

3/5 stars -

John Ulmer