Freaky Friday

This is definitely one of the very best of Disney's many comedies. Perhaps it's the great writing from Mary Rodgers, author of the book, or the spectacular acting from the entire cast, especially a young Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris.

The film is incredibly funny, without being stupid, and it feels very real and authentic, an element that is gone from almost every other Disney film of the era. Although it includes the typical Disney chase scene, the rest of Disney's usual cliches are dropped so that the focus is on the characters and the believable and hilarious situations that they get into.

A definite 10/10! Go rent it! Be sure that you get the 1977 version, though, not the 1995 remake.

The teenager Annabel (Jodie Foster) has friction with her mother Mrs. Andrews (Barbara Harris) and her younger brother Ben. One Friday morning, the both wish to be the other for one day at the same time and their wishes come true and they swap bodies. Meanwhile, Mr. Andrews (John Astin), who is the PR of a company, is preparing a party to promote a real estate, and he counts on the support of his wife and daughter. Along the day, Annabel and Mrs. Andrews learn the problems of each other and understand the difficulties of the other.

The original "Freaky Friday" is a very funny Disney movie even thirty-six years after its release. Barbara Harris steals the film and together with the teenager Jodie Foster, they are responsible for hilarious situations. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Se Eu Fosse a Minha Mãe" ("If I Were My Mother")

With their vibrant turns, Harris and Foster make the movie. The idea of body reversals may not be a new one but it's never been done better than here. Mom (Harris) snipes at daughter (Foster) who still does her own thing anyway. So what would each do if they had role reversals for a day. What would Mom do if she were suddenly in daughter's body and vice-versa. So it's a 30-year old in a teenager's body and a teenager in a wife-mother's body. The concept's loaded with funny potential without much trying. Mom learns what it's like to be in school again, especially when grappling with a new-fangled typewriter, while daughter cooks for Dad's (Astin) big business buffet, with something called an "oven".

The material, of course, makes the laughs easy to come by. Still, the two leads shine in their respective roles. Some of the material can get touchy as when daughter uses Mom's mature figure to tempt neighbor boy. Nonetheless, it's humorously finessed. Hard to believe Foster really is only 13 given her abilities. Good to see such movie vets as Marie Windsor, Patsy Kelly, and Iris Adrian picking up paydays. I had to check the cast list twice to make sure it really was noir vamp Windsor playing a teacher, of all things. Anyway, except for the overdone madcap of the finale, the movie's a delight, even for non-Disney viewers like myself.

It wasn't 100% perfect, but it did entertain me. I will say I also enjoyed the 2003 remake as it was fresh and funny. That said, this is definitely worth seeing. It does start off very briskly, but it loses its way just towards the end, and one or two of the gags were lacking. That said, the script does have its humorous and touching parts, the film is nice to watch visually with nice cinematography, scenery and costumes, the music was nice and upbeat and the premise intrigued me. The direction was also assured, but what made the film was the two sterling lead performances of Barbara Harris and especially Jodie Foster as the mother and daughter who swap bodies for a day. The supporting performances while not as effervescent were also effective. Overall, I liked it, it wasn't perfect, but there are certainly worse movies out there. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This movie, unlike the two so called remakes actually follows the book. My kids have all loved this movie and had no trouble at all relating to the incidents.Sure they have typing class instead of computer class but so what? So what if the Mom stays home and the Dad works. Many families do that today. The brother appears to be in half day kindergarten because he is picked up from school before lunch. Maybe Mom will go back to work next year. It may be a bit dated but that doesn't detract from the movie at all.

Unlike many modern movies the kids are not smart mouthed brats who get away with such behavior. There are no gross jokes or rude, stupid humor.

This is a fun movie for families, especially mothers and daughters to watch together. I would recommend this over the other two because it's how the author intended the story.