Parent reviews for Freaky Friday

Pretty much everything about the movie is pretty typical: kids struggle with parental dating after loss of parent, mom and adolescent daughter love each other but struggle to connect, mom is too tightly wound, little brother is obnoxious, daughter is a standout musician on her way to stardom, and so on... this is fine and makes for a pleasant if not predictable show except! The tired orientalism— the Chinese magical nonsense, complete with gong, is just yuck. I would encourage parents to use this as a teaching moment about how Chinese people, if they are featured at all, are repeatedly depicted as magical, exotic, and foreign by Hollywood.

We watched this movie and thought is was fun and light-hearted. We enjoyed the idea of switching places, the acting was terrific - it's Jamie Lee Curtis! We especially appreciated watching a narrative arc which didn't require the need for a drastic 'evil' villain or the overuse of wild action. This film did a great job of exploring misunderstandings, and how we can step into another's shoes and find a different perspective and some deeper understanding. The portrayal of the Chinese Restauranteurs did not seem out of place - they are Chinese Americans that won a restaurant and have slight accents. We are not Asian so I cannot speak to how that lands for them - but the reviews made it seem like they were caricatures like Long Duck Dong in Sixteen Candles - which these characters certainly were not. Overall, this was a fun family film with positive messages and supportive themes for mothers and daughter's, brother's and sisters, and the challenges that face kids and parents alike. We laughed and enjoyed it.

This movie's bad, it's unimaginative, boring, and is dull and non-offensive if you wanna plop your goblin in front of it for a while. I mean it'll definitely turn your kid into an idiot but so will most family comedies from the early 2000's

My 6 and almost 8 year olds quite enjoyed this movie. We went back to watch the Jodie Foster version after and it was almost unwatchable. If you are choosing between the two, this one is definitely better. We aren't talking great cinema here but an entertaining movie night movie for the family.

I think this movie has some comments and parts that would not be p.c today. Terrible racist Asian stereotypes at the Asian restaurant. The teenager suggests ‘killing herself’ even as a joke- not something I want my kids to say/think about. The Mom dresses a little too young and the daughter tells her she ‘looks like a stripper’. Mom walks off hitching up her pants, flashing her thong. All unnecessary additions and we turned it off. I’m sure there were lots more iffy parts.

Watched with my 11 y.o. daughter and we were immediately disappointed with all of the overkill song and dance. We didn't realize it was another cranked out musical, blech! Not very believable actresses, the musical part of it distracts from being able to dive in and escape with a funny movie....

My family laughed about the funny lines and curious situations in this movie so much, and it was perfect timing for arguments we've been having with our 10yo son, but the caricatures of the Chinese restaurateurs were VERY cringeworthy. I couldn't believe this was made in the 21st century. The heavy accents, the broken English, the "magic of the Chinese grandmother", and much more... UGH! Happily, you could fast-forward through most of those scenes and not miss out on the plot too much (except SPOILER alert one very critical moment does happen there). It's a 4-star movie that lost a star for its racist restaurant scenes.

I loved the 1977 version as a kid and and based on the reviews here I watched this with my 8 year old....its Disney right? Well from the start there were lots of cringe-worthy moments with characters using insults and sarcasm, and other and "poor-choice" moments...my spouse and I kept exchanging glances. The most surprising is a scene where Lohan cheats on a test by sneaking into the teachers lounge to complete it...and destroys the test of her rival. The crush who helps her dumps her for this but comes back in the end...guess he decided it wasn't so bad. The rough bits seemed to go over my childs head though. Good performances and ending but this movie somehow wasn't Disney-fied like I expected.

I really enjoyed watching this film with my 5yo and 3yo. I felt there was nothing scary, sexual, rude or racist. I suspect this film is rated 8 plus as many under that age would find it boring or above their head. My 3yo wouldn't have understood it but there was nothing scary or rude in it and my 5yo is pretty bright so she got the themes. A good filming about mother-daughter bonding and empathy.