This is a bright and breezy Disney comedy that works because of the performances by Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris. Teenage Annabel Andrews (Foster) switches bodies with her mother Ellen (Harris) on Friday the 13th.Annabel realises that managing a home is not easy with cooking, cleaning, managing various workmen, doing various chores. Ellen finds out that being a high school kid is no fun. She messes up at the typewriter class, causes chaos at the photography darkroom and the hockey game leaves her bruised.It is a case of understanding each other's lives. Foster does well as the grown up mom inhibits her body, likewise with Harris playing the teenager all at sea at being domesticated.It is all amiable and easygoing which the kids would like then the film steps up a gear with a crazy finish as Annabel gets involved in a batty police chase through the city and Ellen gets involved in a barmy ski sequence.Some of the roles might be too conservative for today's tastes. The mother being the dutiful housewife for example but this was Disney of the 1970s.

the original 'Freaky Friday' without a doubt proves that remakes are often botch jobs and pointless. for one thing, if you think the original material is good, why believe in all this so-called improvement.people who never get the original 'Friday' versus the remake, never understand the fundamental reasons for why the original is superior. first of all, the original is not only more like the book, it's a really dumb idea to make Annabel a seventeen year old like Lohan rather than a thirteen year old kid. hello. the role is written for a kid and not a older teen ager. the thought of a older, more mature seventeen year old acting like a spoiled young kid that doesn't understand adults is moronic. if you are seventeen and don't know something of what your parents are going through then you are developmentally challenged and need help. to make the character of Annabel as older defeats the whole message of the story. if you aren't somewhat mature by seventeen you need therapy. the story simply makes more sense when it's about a kid rather than a young adult.not to mention that Barbra Harris and Jodie Foster give much better performances than the slow witted, uninspired pseudo-nuttiness of Curtis and Lohan in the remake. the dialogue is also better and funnier in the original and lacks the pretentious restraint of the remake.a lot of people are often critical of the usual Disney "Donald Duck", cartoonish, final scenes in the original. the typical Disney "Donald Duck" slapstick endings can seem fairly routine in older Disney films, but hey, it was their signature trait, and it did help to identify them more as children's films than their contemporary counterparts that attempt to appeal to a more mature audience. besides, a lot of the goofy slapstick in the original film is hilarious. especially the scenes where they p-off the cops.some parents today might be a little put off by the fact that the mother smokes a cigarette and the house keeper accuses Annabel of smoking dope, these were unusual references for a Disney film of that time period, but the film actually takes a anti-smoking stance and the dope reference is made disapprovingly. otherwise there is little or nothing to take offense to.the original 'Freaky Friday' is one of classic Disney's best comedy/fantasy films and has obviously been remembered if not fully appreciated for what it created. a whole genre of switcheroo films like 'Big' and 'Like Father, Like Son'. can't say that's necessarily a great contribution to culture, but the original 'FF' is a funny and winning little film and deserves more respect as a original achievement than it is usually given credit for.

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

Fluffy Disney comedy from the '70s has a pubescent JODIE FOSTER and mom BARBARA HARRIS wishing they could trade places--so they do, for a day, a wildly slapstick day that is totally absurd but hits the funny bone on more than one occasion. Jodie is the sloppy daughter and Harris the fussy housewife who finds fault with her daughter's every move.Mary Rodgers wrote the screenplay from her novel and Gary Nelson directed, but it has no more substance than a half-hour situation comedy stretched to the limits. Kids are the primary target audience, but adults will find the foolishness a bit forced and too much at times.In brief roles as soccer coaches, RUTH BUZZI and KAYE BALLARD do their broad comedy routines with finesse. The final chase on a wild auto ride and a water ski competition gone wild gives the film a good lift, but the script is nothing special and the situations are only funny enough to warrant an amused chuckle or two.Summing up: Lacks the wit and charm of a first-rate comedy, but gets by on the lead performances. The good premise must have looked better on paper than it does when executed on film.