MovieFreak.com - "Freaky Friday" DVD Review by Dennis Landmann

An overworked mother (Curtis) and her daughter (Lohan) do not get along. When they switch bodies, each is forced to adapt to the others' life for one freaky Friday. Thanks to IMDB.

Jaime Lee Curtis is the highlight of Freaky Friday, Disney's successful and enjoyable remake of the 1976 original that starred Barbara Harris and young Jodie Foster. The role of Tess Coleman allows Curtis to really let loose and have fun. The thing is, once her character and Lindsay Lohan's Annabell switch bodies, the two actresses have to act their opposite, and Curtis does an exceptional job. Of course, Lohan is equally impressive. Both have the benefit of working from a smart and funny script by screenwriters Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon. The two writers adapt the novel into modern times and set up a story that is fun to follow and characters the audience can care about. By the end of the film both Tess and Annabell learn more about each other and realize the benefits of love and respect.

Director Mark S. Waters handles the material well. He gives the actors room to act and stages scenes pretty well. The pace of the film is pretty good with the story taking place seemingly over a period of 24 hours. As I've said, Curtis and Lohan are terrific. The supporting cast is also good, but somewhat underdeveloped, especially Tess' fiancé Ryan, played by Mark Harmon. Moreover, Chad Michael Murray is good as Jake, Annabell's love interest, and youngster Ryan Malgarini turns in a cute performance as brother Harry.

The film plays great tricks on the comedy of errors, such as scenes between Annabell and Jake, and Tess and Ryan. It's just fun to see the reactions. One scene in particular involves Tess (as Annabell) checking into her office to see her scheduled patients for the day. To sum it up, Freaky Friday is an enjoyable way to spend an evening with the family.

Buena Vista presents Freaky Friday in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The print image looks fairly clean and strong, but a speck or two show up. There isn't any grain that I noticed. Compression artifacts are also not an issue. Colors are sharp and well-saturated, but not always in perfect detail. Overall, this is a pretty decent presentation.

Buena Vista presents Freaky Friday in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The surrounds are active from time to time, but most of the audio is located in the front. Rear speakers do a good job when they're being used. There quite a few songs in this film and they sound good. Disney's audio presentation sounds just fine.

Considering the film broke the $100 million barrier I expected much more from the DVD in terms of extras. What we get is ultimately fine, but also kind of disappointing.

There is no commentary track. However, there is a deleted scene, but I see no reason why it was excised from the film. There are also two or three alternate endings that are essentially identical except for one small difference. The bloopers reel is kind of amusing and runs circa 3 minutes. Also available are two music videos. The best thing about this disc is the roughly 10-minute Backstage Pass with Lindsay Lohan. This featurette is quite revealing. It follows the young actress on the set and includes genuine behind-the-scenes footage. The only downside is that it's so short.

You can select to view the film with optional English and French subtitles. The 97-minute feature is organized into twelve chapters.

Freaky Friday is a fun family film with a lot of heart and laughs. It's one of those rare remakes that is actually pretty good. Performances are natural and joyous, and the story is fun to follow. Disney's video/audio quality is just fine, while the extras are borderline average. A recommended purchase/highly recommended rental.

THE MOVIE	7
THE VIDEO	7
THE AUDIO	8
THE EXTRAS	5
OVERALL (not an average)	7