IMDb.com
By Keith Walther
Disney is at it again with another lazy cash grab, simply trying to bank money on people’s proclivity towards nostalgia. “Freakier Friday” is the sequel to their 2003 success, returning Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis to their respective roles. Relying on ageist humor that gets very old very quickly and doubling the switcheroos, this is a film that earns about as many laughs as it does stars.
It’s been 22 years since Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Anna Coleman (Lindsay Lohan) had their out of body experience, and now Anna has her own daughter, Harper (Julia Butters). When Anna becomes engaged to Eric Reyes (Manny Jacinto), who has a teenage daughter of his own, Lily (Sophia Hammons), they begin the always challenging process of blending their families. The fact that Harper and Lily do not like each other one bit makes it all the more difficult.
With the prospect of uprooting and moving to London on the table, leaving Tess behind, conflict provides the catalyst for Tess and Anna to go through that same body swap, but this time with the teenage girls. With the older women in the young girls’ bodies and vice versa, the obvious shenanigans and jokes ensue as they try to figure out how to reverse the body swap once again. Gee, I wonder if they have to learn a valuable lesson to solve the problem.
Switcheroo comedies like this have been done countless times before, so it is crucial to bring something new to the table to make it stand out positively, and director Nisha Ganatra fails to accomplish this. “Freakier Friday” doubles down on age related, soft serve comedy to supply the bulk of entertainment, but the jokes are weak, stale, and repetitive. In fact, the setups are so overly contrived that the punchlines come across forced. Nisha presents the scenes in a way that lacks cohesion and are simply designed to get to the next joke of low hanging fruit that sours and rots.
Unfortunately, Nisha’s filmmaking style is all over the place as well, alternating between dizzying jump cuts and long continuous shots, which make the film itself feel like it has a multiple personality disorder. Her sloppiness breeds numerous gaffes that distract from the storytelling, like out-of-sequence shots that mix up physical appearances or forgotten details that contradict future actions. Disney couldn’t even shell out money for decent songs to accompany the film, instead relying on the tone def vocal talents of Lindsay Lohan.
The dialogue writing is safe and out of touch, which does not favor a cast with limited ability. This is Lindsay Lohan’s first starring role in a film with a wide theatrical release in 18 years, and her lack of acting talent has not improved during that time. The only thing more off putting than her singing or line delivery was her constant centering breath. By around the fifth time she performs this move, the groans from viewers become audibly pronounced.
Jamie Lee Curtis turns herself into a complete goof when portraying a teenage personality, clearly not understanding how to behave like a moody teenage girl. This makes it impossible to view her as a different character, nullifying any believability in the transition. The same can be said for the younger actresses Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons, who simply looked confused when trying to portray older women, thus confusing the audience. Only “Saturday Night Live” alum Vanessa Bayer provided notable amusement as the eccentric, side-hustling fortune teller.
Watching the audience, mostly comprised of Gen X women and their daughters, is more entertaining than the actual movie, forcing chuckles and phony smiles as if they were at a child’s concert, applauding and giving false platitudes when the child clearly has no talent. Of course, there will be fans who convince themselves that “Freakier Friday” is a fun sequel and will hate this review, but Disney is not pulling the wool over this critic’s eyes. “Sketch” is by far the better family friendly film this week.
This movie earns
