I'll tell you, I was apprehensive about "Freaky Friday." What, another kid and adult swap roles movie, puh-leez. And frankly I've been a tad skeptical about Jamie Lee Curtis bearing her aging body to the world to see a book about accepting your body image. I was delightfully surprised. Freaky Friday might not be the year's best movie, but it is certainly enjoyable, pleasant entertainment with an obvious but still acceptable moral overtone.

Curtis plays Tess Coleman, a successful shrink raising two kids and about to marry again. Her daughter, Anna, is coping with the woes of High School and trying to make it big in a rock band that is still in the "garage stage."

Two nights before Tess's wedding, Anna's band gets the opportunity of their young lives, a spot in a band competition, the same night as her mother's rehearsal dinner. Anna hopes her mother will understand. She doesn't. Both mother and daughter want the other to understand a little more about the other--you couldn't last a moment in my life, they scream at each other. Through the meddling of a Chinese woman, the pair suddenly swap bodies and the fun begins.

There aren't many plot surprises. It is rather difficult for an adult and a teenager to understand the pressures of each other's lives. Both look so simple to the other. Freaky Friday isn't exactly rocket science and there's little new ground covered. Instead, the trodden path is covered well. Jamie Lee Curtis is wonderful as the 40-year-old teenager.

The movie is stolen, however, by Lindsey Lohan as Anna Coleman. When she suddenly becomes a 40-year-old mother of two inside a teenager's body, her behavior is perfect. She can't enjoy this wild foray into youth, she's totally concerned with how to resolve the situation. I laughed and laughed.

There's a healthy dose of slapstick comedy and it works admirably. And, no shock, surely, but the happy ending almost squeezes a tear from the eyes.

Against all odds, I really liked Freaky Friday. The movie feels like a nice close to the summer--a little fun, a few laughs, and an underlying message that's nicely sentimental in touchy feely way indicating the importance of families. Sigh. How sweet, but it worked for me.


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