 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
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 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
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Freaky Friday
- Review Date: December 14, 2003
- PG
- Genre: Family and Kids
- 2003
Common Sense Media says
Mother-daughter switch is fun comedic chaos.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Freaky Friday is a switched-identities comedy that will appeal to older kids, tweens, and teens alike. It's a good movie for families to watch together, as it will spark shared laughter and possible lively conversation about parent-child relationships. There is some very mild sexual innuendo as filmmakers skillfully handle the awkward moments when the teen girl in her mom’s body and the mom in her teen's body are confronted with potentially romantic moments with the two male love interests. Occasional swearing is used to help define the characters as they adapt to their new and unfamiliar roles ("Oh, my God!" "We’re screwed," "harlot," "hell," "fart," "it sucks"). Two earthquakes shake things up a bit, but no one is hurt.
What's the story?
In the third version of the book by Mary Rodgers, Jamie Lee Curtis plays Tess, a compassionate therapist and a loving, if harried mother of two children. Her husband died three years ago, and she's about to be married to the devoted, understanding Ryan (Mark Harmon). Lindsay Lohan is her daughter Anna, who, like most 15-year-olds, thinks that she has both too much of her mother's attention (when it comes to telling her what to do) and not enough (when it comes to knowing what's important to her, which she thinks Tess should just be able to intuit, since Anna doesn't really want to tell her anything). When the two of them get into an argument at a Chinese restaurant, the owner's mother gives them magic fortune cookies. The next morning, they wake up as each other. While they figure out how to return to their own bodies, each has to spend the day living the other's life.
Is it any good?
Curtis and Lohan are so clearly enjoying themselves in FREAKY FRIDAY that they're fun to watch. And the story moves along so briskly that its logical flaws barely get in the way.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about the fairly common motif of switched identities. Have you seen the original 1976 version starring Jody Foster as a kid?
Why it is hard for Tess and Anna to understand each other at the beginning of the movie? If the parents and children in your family switched places, what would be the biggest surprises?
What do you think of how Anna resolves her problems with her English teacher and the honors exam?
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- Teens & kids
Kid, 11 years old
August 21, 2010
AGE
tweens only
The girl is mean to her mom and the words ewww
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Teen, 15 years old
April 19, 2011
AGE
LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!
Awesome movie, relevant for a lot of moms and daughters. There is one reference that is failed to be pointed out where Anna, who was in her mom's body at the moment, refers to a girl "doing it" in a sexual way, but it is used appropriately and will go over most kid's heads.
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Teen, 14 years old
September 8, 2009
AGE
Great Fun
This movie is quite fun with solid performances from the leads.
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AGE
TV-PG TV-14 TV-MA
on Disney, TBS, Spike, and Sleuth is rated TV-PG, and on Syndicated (coming soon, but now customized), Logo TV and Hallmark is rated TV-14 and TV-MA (L,N,SSC,AC,AS,V,$)
What other families should know:
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AGE
TV-PG TV-14 TV-MA
on Disney, TBS, Spike, and Sleuth is rated TV-PG, and on Syndicated (coming soon, but now customized), Logo TV and Hallmark is rated TV-14 and TV-MA (L,N,SSC,AC,AS,V,$)
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Teen, 13 years old
April 3, 2011
AGE
Funny, and might just get you closer to your own Mom or kid
I don't know how many times I watched Freaky Friday, but I enjoyed it every time. However, it is obvious that some parents won't enjoy it. The Mother-Daughter relationship is terrible in the beggining of the movie. While the daughter is in the mothers body, she kisses her love-intrest and rides with him on the back of his motorcycle-just before she is about to get married. A mom talks about reading her daughters diary and realizing that her daughter wants to have you know what (but she doesn't say it). In the end a grandson calls his Grandfather an "old f*rt." Otherwise, Freaky Friday can be a loving story about a mother and daughter slowly abandoning each other become closer.
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Teen, 13 years old
September 24, 2011
AGE
bad
not very good din't like it
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Kid, 11 years old
February 5, 2010
AGE
Cute Movie for all ages interested.
Younger children won't be interested, but older tweens and teens will enjoy tame humor and smart writing. It is work to be admired for the comedy and work put in by Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. I enjoyed it. The only concerns are schoolyard words "scr**ed", "s**ks", etc, but nothing too awful.
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Parent of 13 year old
June 7, 2009
AGE
Fun, Funny, and Sometimes Genuinely Touching...
FREAKY FRIDAY is a studio's nightmare. The sucess of the movie rides completely on the strength of the two main performances. The script and direction mean nothing if those two actors aren't cast perfectly. Lucky for us, they were. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan are perfect in this movie, believable and very funny.
Also, there's little objectionable material. There is no language, only some crude terms like "sucks" and one use of "h*ll" ("makeover from h*ll"). There are some mild, harmless innuendos that will go over kids' heads, like when Mark Harmon's character causes Curtis to trip over a couch, and her dad says "save it for the honeymoon". No violence, drugs, or negative role models. Quite the contrary, actually. While both mother and daughter act immaturely to begin with, they each act out of love towards the end.
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Kid, 10 years old
July 11, 2010
AGE
Funny Show
A mother daughter relationship. A really funny show.
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| Topics: | magic and fantasy, high school |
| Studio: | Buena Vista |
| Director: | Mark Waters |
| Cast: | Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon |
| Genre: | Family and Kids |
| Run time: | 95 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | August 8, 2003 |
| DVD release date: | December 16, 2003 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | mild thematic elements and some language |
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