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The MovieFreaky Friday was an extremely successful release for Disney in 2003. The story is a remake of Disney's 1976 classic starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. This version is thoroughly modern yet avoids being cynical. Jamie Lee Curtis takes Harris' role as the mother, and is the highlight of the entire movie. Lindsay Lohan plays 15-year-old daughter Anna. Both learn self-sacrifice and a new appreciation for each others' lives when they switch bodies for a day. Alex Stroup gave a full review of the film when it was released. My children were very excited to watch the DVD and to delve into the extras. The GoodiesThere are a good number of extras listed on the DVD; however, they are not very detailed when one actually views them. A section called Backstage Pass with Lindsay Lohan has Lohan introducing the actors as they prepare to film scenes. She also shows her on-set schoola trailer. It was interesting to see her talking with her tutor and to realize that she is still just a kid who still needs to get her math homework in on time. There is the standard blooper reel, two music videos and one deleted scene which turns out to be nothing more than a ten second shot cut from an already existing scene. The director Mark Waters does explain why he deleted it, but it was disappointing to see there were not more deleted scenes included. Music is a big theme in the film, and there are two music videos included taken from clips of the songs from the film. There is also a small scene showing Jamie Lee Curtis playing the guitar during the House of Blues audition.
The most potentially interesting part of the goodies package was the two alternate endings promoted on the DVD. These turned out to be less than fascinating, with the director again introducing these two short clips and explaining why they were not used in the film. He did mention several times about the set-up for a potential sequel, which is not surprising. The Video, Audio and InterfaceThe DVD has both full frame and widescreen formats on the same disc, which is helpful for people who get the formats confused. The disc uses Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The interface is very standard, and since the extras on the disc are pretty basic, children will have no trouble navigating their way through. The colors and music are pretty intense which is very appealing to the younger fans of the film, but can be grating eventually to older viewers.
The Final EvaluationFor those of us who are fast becoming spoiled by the mountains of extras put together for some Disney DVDs, this disc might prove a bit disappointing. However, the film is one of the most entertaining family films of the year. My children will choose to view Freaky Friday over Finding Nemo most days, which is saying a lot. It's definitely a DVD that will be popular with kids and parents alike. |
 
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