Movie · 1976 · Fantasy, Comedy, Family · 1h 35m · G · English
Curator score: 1.5/10 (15.9K ratings)
Annabel and her mother are not quite themselves today... In fact, they're each other!
Overview
School girl Annabel is hassled by her mother, and Mrs. Andrews is annoyed with her daughter, Annabel. They both think that the other has an easy life. On a normal Friday morning, both complain about each other and wish they could have the easy life of their daughter/mother for just one day and their wishes come true as a bit of magic puts Annabel in Mrs. Andrews' body and vice versa. They both have a Freaky Friday.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.5/10
IMDb: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
Metacritic: 51
TMDB: 6.1/10
Director
Gary Nelson
Production
Walt Disney Productions
Cast
Jodie Foster, Barbara Harris, John Astin, Patsy Kelly, Dick Van Patten, Vicki Schreck, Sorrell Booke, Alan Oppenheimer, Ruth Buzzi, Kaye Ballard, Marc McClure, Marie Windsor, Sparky Marcus, Ceil Cabot, Brooke Mills, Karen Smith, Marvin Kaplan, Al Molinaro, Iris Adrian, Barbara Walden
Where to watch
Disney Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy, uneven Disney body-swap comedy that lives or dies on the charm of Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. The premise is still fun, but the film is more dated and shaggy than its reputation suggests, with a few standout set pieces and a lot of mid-70s family-film padding.
Best for
fans of body-swap comedies
viewers who enjoy vintage Disney live-action oddities
Jodie Foster completists
people who like light, family-friendly fantasy with a retro feel
Skip if
you want a sharp or modern comedy
dated family-film pacing bothers you
you are mainly here for the later remake's polish
you prefer comedies with stronger narrative momentum
Overview
Freaky Friday is a classic high-concept premise filtered through mid-70s Disney softness, which means it is charming in bursts and sluggish in others. The body-swap conceit remains inherently funny, and the movie gets a lot of mileage from watching Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster imitate each other’s rhythms, manners, and frustrations.
Worth noting
What keeps it memorable is the cast. Harris is especially game, and Foster already has the kind of sharp, self-possessed screen presence that makes the whole thing feel more alive than the material around her. There are also a few delightfully absurd stretches of physical comedy and action that give the movie a weirdly scrappy energy.
Bottom line
Still, this is not a tightly engineered comedy. The pacing wanders, the tone can feel overly wholesome, and some of the humor lands as very of-its-era. It’s worth seeing as a piece of Disney history and as an early showcase for Foster, but it’s more interesting than consistently great.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sonny_Jim (3★) · 455 likes
The excited look on John Astin's face when Barbara Harris calls him "daddy" is the apex moment of '70s Disney kinkiness.
Livia Vieira (3★) · 367 likes
*Gay silence*
Leighton Trent (3★) · 241 likes
Jodie Foster: Arguably the beginning of her greatness that would lead directly into Taxi Driver
Barbara Harris: As transcendentally hilarious a performance in a tepid mid-70's family film even without those 5 star water-ski/hang gliding scenes
The Movie Itself: Without Foster and Harris, what are we even talking about? 🤔
John Astin's excitement at being called "daddy" twice by Barbara Harris: Peak 70's kink with a hearty portion of Disney Family Cinema on the side.
Serena (2.5★) · 241 likes
Why does 13 yr old Jodie foster talk like my grandfather from New York
Erin 🍺 (3★) · 138 likes
The scene where Barbara Harris is playing baseball just added several years to my life
1961 · Comedy, Family, Romance · 2h 9m · G · Curator 7.1/10 (26.5K ratings) · Where to watch: Disney Plus
A classic Disney family comedy built on mistaken identity and role-play, with the same playful interest in how kids and adults misunderstand each other.