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Freakier Friday
Review by Rich Cline |
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![]() dir Nisha Ganatra scr Jordan Weiss prd Kristin Burr, Andrew Gunn, Jamie Lee Curtis with Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons, Manny Jacinto, Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Vanessa Bayer, Stephen Tobolowsky, Lucille Soong, Rosalind Chao release US/UK 8.Aug.25 25/US Disney 1h51 ![]() ![]() ![]() See also: ![]() Is it streaming? |
![]() With buoyant energy, this nutty sequel taps into the same energetic vibe as the 2003 hit comedy, reuniting Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan and much of the original cast for an even wackier adventure. Director Nisha Ganatra adeptly brings out big laughs while skilfully navigating the more sentimental emotional moments. And the actors are clearly having so much fun that it's difficult for us to resist their charm. This time, it's music exec Anna (Lohan) preparing for marriage to top chef Eric (Jacinto). But Anna's teen surfer daughter Harper (Butters) and Eric's snooty British teen Lily (Hammons) are less than thrilled. On a fateful night, the teens swap bodies with Anna and grandma Tess (Curtis). As Anna and Tess, Harper and Lily set out to sabotage the wedding, using Anna's still-hot ex Jake (Murray) as bait. Meanwhile, Anna and Tess navigate life as Gen Z troublemakers. Of course, walking in each others' shoes might help them find the way back into their own. As before, this is a seriously momentous Friday, enjoyably scrambled because these women are in the wrong bodies. The movie is a series of disconnected set-pieces in a jumbled plot that remains just about coherent. It's also hilariously ridiculous, including a photo session for Anna's lovelorn rockstar client (Ramakrishnan), a stint in school detention, a Chumbawumba-charged visa interview, and so on. And it leads to the expected explosive fallout before coming together for a lively rock-n-roll finale. Everything wraps with closing-credits outtakes that reveal just how much fun the actors had in these bonkers sequences, riffing off each other as they make fun of old-young issues from arthritic knees to high-octane metabolisms. Curtis and Lohan have effortless chemistry as mother and daughter, diving into the high-energy mayhem with both physical gusto and emotional resonance. And Butters and Hammons hold their own in sparky, nuanced roles. The surrounding ensemble of supporting actors is also clearly loving every minute, especially the charming Jacinto. The story's message isn't anything earth-shattering, but there are insights scattered throughout the silliness about generational issues and the importance of seeing things through other perspectives. Thankfully, these are woven right through the fabric of the narrative, so they never feel too pushy, gently gurgling in the background while the cast and crew get up with simply making us laugh at the goofy antics. But it's kind of worrying to think that they might want to make part three even busier and more entangled.
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© 2025 by Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall | |||||
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