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Irish Examiner

Film review: Freakier Friday is a good-natured knockabout

ADAPTED from Mary Rodgers's 1972 novel, Freaky Friday (2003) starred Lindsay Lohan as teenager Anna and Jamie Lee Curtis as her long-suffering mother Tess, both of whom learn wisdom and tolerance when they find themselves inhabiting the other's body. Set 22 years on, Freakier Friday (PG) delivers a multi-generational twist: Anna is now set to marry Eric (Manny Jacinto), a prospect that horrifies Anna's daughter Harper (Julia Butters) and Eric's daughter Lily (Sophia Hammons). When all four women attend Anna's bachelorette party and consult the mysterious psychic Madame Jen (Vanessa Bayer), body-swap mayhem ensues. Written by Elyse Hollander and Jordan Weiss, with Nisha Ganatra directing, Freakier Friday derives much of its comedy from age-inappropriate behaviour: Once they're over the initial shock, and having been through all this a couple of decades previously, Anna and Tess leap at the opportunities afforded by living in younger bodies, and particularly when it comes to eating the kinds of food that a calorie-burning constitution can handle. Meanwhile, the younger pair are in a position to wreck Anna's relationship with Eric. What follows is good, clean, knockabout fun as the four women push at the boundaries of their unexpected freedom, all the while trying to conceal the truth from their friends, associates, and work colleagues. The basic conceit remains the same, but the filmmakers deserve credit for expanding on the original idea, and the likeable cast deliver handsomely on the premise. Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis appear to be revelling in one another's company once more, and Vanessa Bayer is good value as the multi-tasking medium who redefines the meaning of ditzy. It fizzes more than it crackles, but Freakier Friday is an old-fashioned feel-good comedy. Weapons Weapons ★★★☆☆ Cinematic release Set in the apparently ordinary American town of Maybrook, Weapons (16s) opens with an entire class of fifth-graders — all except young Alex (Cary Christopher) — disappearing from their homes overnight. Suspicion immediately falls on their teacher, Justine (Julia Garner), but when the police make no headway, father Archer (Josh Brolin) instigates his own investigation. Writer-director Zach Cregger delivered an intriguing take on the horror genre with Barbarian (2022), and Weapons similarly offers a variation on the old conventions, whilst also functioning as an homage to Stephen King tropes — scary clowns, supernatural goings-on in modern suburbia, a brief nod to The Shining. Oddly, the story becomes less suspenseful as details are revealed via a number of perspectives, which include those of local cop Paul (Alden Ehrenreich) and school principal Andrew (Benedict Wong). By the finale, the movie is something of a gruesome black comedy. It's ambitious, but too tonally uneven to fully convince. Elias develops feelings for his new neighbour Alexander in Young Hearts Young Hearts ★★★★☆ Cinematic release Young Hearts (12A) stars Lou Goossens as Elias, a young teenage boy growing up in a small Belgian town. His friendship with Valerie (Saar Rogiers) seems to be slowly deepening into a romantic attachment, but everything changes when Alexander (Marius De Saegar), recently arrived from Brussels, moves in. At first, Alexander is just another pal. But when Alexander tells Elias that he is gay, Elias realises that he is falling in love with his new friend. Confused by his feelings, Elias is terrified of revealing his new truth. An autobiographical story from writer-director Anthony Schatteman, Young Hearts is at times overly simplistic (despite the small-town, Elias's friends and family are all tolerant). Overall, it's a charming account of first love, with Lou Goossens superbly natural as the hugely likeable Elias, and Dirk van Dijck providing terrific emotional ballast as Elias's gruffly tender grandfather Fred.