Anna (Lindsay Lohan) is a typical teen that plays in a rock band and feels oppressed by her mother’s rules. Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) is the mother, and widow, and is marrying her boyfriend (Mark Harmon) in a few days. Both are absorbed in their own worlds and feel unfairness on the part of the other. It’s no surprise then, that a magical fortune cookie that causes them to change bodies would also say that only when “selfless love” and the ability to see the world from the point of view of the other person was reached would they then be able to get their own bodies back.

Such a blatant statement of the intended message at the start of a film is usually a good indicator of either heavy handed cheese or foreshadowing of a poorly developed idea running off with the idea that we know what the story is supposed to be about. Fortunately, Freaky Friday avoids both ends and impressively hits its target in a legitimate way.

For awhile, it seems like it won’t. Freaky Friday does spend a lot of time just playing with the idea, allowing the daughter to tease her brother under the guise of the mother and allowing the mother to show off at school. When the moralizing turn finally does come, it seems a little forced at first, both mother and daughter are sort of compelled to see each other’s perspectives due to their given situations. But it ends up feeling genuine in the end – at least, genuine enough to hold itself up under the weight of such a premise.

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