A ‘freaky’ good time

Funny and extremely charming

Tina Martin is a freshman at UC San Diego, and daughter of Reel

Critic Marla Martin.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed “Freaky Friday”!

It was cute, funny and extremely charming. The connection between mom

and daughter, the terrors of being a teenager dealing with her family

and the eventual happy realization of “selfless love” all play a

major role in the film.

There are also the facts that the mom is getting remarried and

that Anna has a major crush at school. Anna has friend, brother, band

and school problems while her mom has to plan a wedding, promote a

book and serve as the life support to nervous therapy patients.

Each deal with her newly appointed issues in their own way while

the audience gets a good laugh throughout. It’s a fun movie to watch

and does not get too corny. I recommend it!

Eye-opener for mother and daughter

Marla Martin of La Crescenta is a belly-dance

performer/instructor.

Real, meaningful relationships between mothers and their teenage

daughters? You bet it’s a challenge! And how better to illustrate

that than by offering us a scary little glimpse of

“what-if-they-switch-bodies”?

I loved it! The story was adorable, the characters were believable

and the plot just clips right along, adding more zany twists and

turns to the mom/daughter identity dilemma.

As these two attempt to walk a mile in each other’s shoes, we get

to see inside their experience a little bit, as each develops

increased perspective and sensitivity toward the other’s challenges.

If only we could order that off the menu in real life!

My favorite parts were the hip Cinderella-style makeover the mom

gets at the hands of her body-invading daughter (can you say platinum

card?) and the forbidden French fries the mom gets to guiltlessly

indulge in while occupying the youthful body of her daughter. Oh, if

only it were that easy!

* “Freaky Friday” is rated PG for mild thematic elements and some

language.

If you would like to become a Reel Critic and see a movie on the

newspaper’s tab, call entertainment editor Joyce Rudolph at 637-3241.