Jamie Lee Curtis is not a fan of “Freakier Friday” slander. On Friday, the actress responded to Time’s review of the sequel to the original 2003 film and sharply noted, “SEEMS a TAD HARSH. SOME people LOVE it. Me being one.”
The review in question was indeed titled: “‘Freakier Friday’ Is Humiliating to Everyone Involved.”
“No one, as far as we know, actually asked Disney for a sequel to 2003’s buoyant, surprisingly unsyrupy generation-gap comedy ‘Freaky Friday,’” Stephanie Zacharek wrote for the outlet. But in an interview with The Times published in July, Curtis herself directly contradicted that assertion.
“In every single city I went to, the only movie they asked me about besides ‘Halloween’ was ‘Freaky Friday’ – was there going to be a sequel?” she said. Curtis then called up Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, and told him what she’d experienced.
“I said: ‘Look, I don’t know if you’re planning on doing [a sequel], but Lindsay is old enough to have a teenager now, and I’m telling you the market for that movie exists.’”
The movie reunites Curtis with Lindsay Lohan, her co-star from the original film. In the first, Curtis and Lohan (playing a mother and daughter) swapped bodies and ended up learning a lot about one another. In the follow-up, Lohan’s character is now a mom with a teen of her own — and a potential stepdaughter who is her own child’s mortal enemy.
The foursome end up swapping bodies, a plot point that results in some good, old-fashioned fun at the movies (and sometimes that’s exactly what you need).
“There’s a fundamental kindness to the ‘Freaky Friday’ films, a reassuring belief in the importance of empathy and communication,’” TheWrap’s William Bibbiani wrote in our review. “Marrying that sentiment to a whimsical wish fulfillment fantasy about being a kid again or, conversely, having all the power of a full-grown adult, is extremely appealing.”
“Freakier Friday” is now playing in theaters.
