Freaky Friday (2018)

Freaky Friday (Dir: Steve Carr, 2018)

Disney have certainly gotten their money’s worth out of Freaky Friday. This Disney Channel Original Movie is the studio’s fourth adaptation of Mary Rodgers’ novel and is itself based upon Disney Theatrical Productions 2016 stage musical, with music and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey and book by Bridget Carpenter. 

The now familiar tale of the mother and daughter at loggerheads who switch bodies for a day is tweaked and refreshed for a new generation of tweens. Here Cozi Zuehlsdorff is a teenager still grieving the death of her father five years earlier and Heidi Blickenstaff her stressed mother on the eve of remarrying. This time a magical hourglass is the catalyst for the swap. A scavenger hunt is shoehorned in, recalling another earlier Disney Production, the cult favourite Midnight Madness (David Wechter & Michael Nankin, 1980).

I have been a fan of the original Freaky Friday (Gary Nelson, 1976) and the 1972 Mary Rodgers novel upon which it is based almost all of my life. This most recent version deviates significantly from both movie and source. While the original is undoubtedly the best, this new Freaky Friday is a lot of fun. Kitt and Yorkey’s  High School Musical-style soft rock is easy on the ear, although the vocals suffer from the same apparent ‘tweaking’ effect which Disney Channel musicals always seem to do. Steve Carr's direction doesn’t belie the movies TV roots, while Blickenstaff and Zuehlsdorff step into the legendary shoes of Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster with an appealing enthusiasm which is hard to resist. Come the inevitable climactic big song and dance number this tween movie had worked its warm-hearted magic of this middle age movie critic. 

I must confess to having a soft spot for Disney Channel movies. No one would argue that they are cinematic masterpieces, but most offer 90 minutes of lightweight fun. If you are a fan you will know what to expect, if you’re not this won’t be the movie to change your mind. Freaky Friday won’t change the world but it should bring a smile to the faces of those looking for goodnatured, undemanding entertainment.