Freaky Friday

Now we all know how I like to compare a book turned into a movie with the movie. This time I am not able to do that as I have never read the book in question. Freaky Friday is a fun movie Disney put out through Buena Vista Studios where a mother and daughter switch places for most of a day. This allows them a unique perspective into each other’s lives that they were lacking previously, and brings them closer together in the end.

Annabelle Andrews (Jodie Foster) is your typical 13-year-old girl trying to stretch her wings into independence. She would rather eat ice cream for breakfast with her friends than her mother’s homemade meal. Her friends and her commiserate over their mothers and how they could never make it through a day like they have to. “Back in the day I had to walk two miles uphill both ways to school.” Doesn’t translate well to 1976 students. These students are dealing with the revolution. There are drugs readily available, the Vietnam War just ended, electric typewriters are used over mechanical ones. Annabelle enjoys, hanging out with her friends, marching band, field hockey, and day dreaming about the boy across the street who has avoided her for four years since she hit him in the head with a tin shovel, Boris.

Ellen Andrews (Barbara Harris) just wants her daughter to take responsibility for something! Her room is constantly a pig sty, meaning that the housekeeper she has hired to come in 3 days a week won’t do anything in Annabelle’s room. Ellen hears her daughter talk about watching her figure and then sees her refusing meals at home. Not understanding Annabelle is being paid enough allowance to pay for ice cream for breakfast 5 days a week, and is meeting up with kids to trade/share lunches. Ellen knows before Annabelle and her switch bodies that Principal Dirk wants to meet with her to talk about Annabelle’s declining grades. This is a mother who is worried and is desperately trying to save her daughter. Ellen enjoys being a typical housewife. She makes friends with the neighbors, provides home cooked meals, picks her son up from school each day, takes care of her appearance and her home to the utmost perfection.

After Annabelle switches into her mother’s body, she quickly becomes overwhelmed with all of the household responsibilities. Ellen had scheduled the carpet cleaners to come on the same day as the housekeeper, on the same day as the draperies are returned from the dry cleaner, on the same day as her car is returned from the mechanic (can I please have an oil change, lubed, and washed for $14.50!), and for added chaos Mary Kay (Karen Smith), the neighbor, needs her borrowed hair dryer back. In addition to what no doubt amounts to a weekly amount of trouble for Ellen, her husband Bill (John Astin) is throwing an Aquacade to show off his new Oceana Marina his company built. Annabelle is water skiing in it and all Bill cares about is if she shows up on time for the Aquacade. Bill gives Annabelle (in Ellen’s body), a laundry list of other duties; take his suit to the dry cleaners, press his silk shirt with ruffles, wear the black slinky dress he likes, polish his shoes, and bring everything to his office before the Aquacade. One hour into the movie Bill decides he hasn’t asked enough of his wife and adds on a gourmet meal because the two women in charge of planning for food both thought the other one was doing it.

“There’s only going to be about 25 people. I’ve already told them what a great cook you are, so just one of your little, gourmet spreads should be fine…Honey you’ve got 3 whole hours it should be a snap! Thanks love, goodbye.”

In Bill’s defense after he hangs up the phone, he exhales sharply in a way that lets you know that he just asked his wife to perform a miracle and he is praying that she pulls it off. Annabelle in Ellen’s body responds with calling him a male chauvinist pig. What do you think–IS Bill a chauvinist pig? (Yes. The answer is yes). When Ben (the second child the Andrews have played by Sparky Marcus), asks what a male chauvinist pig is she responds with,

Ellen in Annabelle’s body isn’t doing much better. She arrives late to Still Photography and turns on the lights. She is able to surmise she somehow has done something wrong and leaves the classroom turning off lights as she goes. She explodes the typewriting lab, messes up marching band, and scores the winning goal in field hockey for the other team. She then goes to Bill’s work to ask to use his credit cards for a makeover. She meets the new secretary that Bill hadn’t told Ellen about and manages to scare the woman into a coat and glasses that she doesn’t need. These after school activities make her late for the aquacade and her friends from school pick her up outside the mall to take her to the marina.

Both of these characters had misconceptions about the other and how they were spending their life. Walking a mile in each other’s shoes gave them enough perspective to repair their relationship before it was too late. This also allows Annabelle to mend bridges with neighbor Boris, and her brother Ben. This is a fun family watch that can help remind parents that their kids are not going through the same schools they did. Even now there are more school shootings then there were when I was growing up. We thought Columbine was a fluke, we had no idea that it would become daily news. My kids were enjoying watching the movie but had a lot of questions about different objects on the screen (why didn’t she use her cell phone?). I still give this movie 5 out of 5. The fact that it isn’t the same as it was just drives the whole point of the movie even deeper.