Freaky Friday (2003) - What Even Is "Communication?!"
EPISODE SUMMARY:
This episode is a discussion of whether we are talking about a "film" or a "movie" (one is "better" than the other) and there is talk about whether or not it is too problematic to re-watch, but we all agree that it's kind of, sort of an early 2000s classic– despite the fact that only one of us has seen it before.
If you know, have worked with, or have heard of any of the three of us already, then this is a must-listen because it becomes an extremely personal story for everyone.
TIME STAMPS & MUST LISTEN MOMENTS:
00:27 - What You Need To Know Before Watching
01:39 - What Robby, A Storytelling Teacher Thinks
08:12 - Is "Freaky Friday" A Film or a Movie?
18:18 - When Did We We All Cry?
23:30 - Does Money Buy Happiness + Sketch
27:41 - Serious Question: What Is Communication?
31:04 - The Big Takeaway: Chad Michael Murray
35:03 - Jaclynn's Love of BRITNEY SPEARS
38:22 - Robby's Way Too "Sexy" Britney Spears Summer In Italy
42:33 - Favorite Lines
EXTENDED EPISODE NOTES:
We begin by trying to set the scene for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie — Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis at their absolute peak, body-swapping chaos, a soundtrack that could only exist in 2003.
From there, we start drifting between Jaclynn's nostalgia and critique. Robby, our resident storytelling teacher, treats the film like a case study in structure and theme, breaking down how body-swapping becomes a metaphor for communication (and miscommunication).
Jaclynn admits it's a movie, not a film, but Cole argues that it’s film because of its cinematography.
When we finally circle back to the “film vs. movie” debate, it becomes an ongoing bit for the rest of the episode. Is Freaky Friday high art or just a comfort watch? Does it matter if something makes us feel seen even if it’s “just” a teen comedy?
Still, somewhere in the middle of all the laughter, we accidentally hit something real. Around the time we start talking about the mother-daughter storyline, everyone admits they cried — sometimes for personal reasons that have nothing to do with the movie.
There’s a moment where one of us says, “This isn’t about Lindsay Lohan anymore,” and it’s true. We realize the film’s message about not understanding each other across generations lands harder as adults. It’s suddenly less about comedy and more about empathy — and maybe that’s what keeps us coming back to movies like this.
The conversation takes a turn into whether money buys happiness (spoiler: it doesn’t, but it does buy time to make bad art), and we somehow end up doing an impromptu sketch that only sort of makes sense in context. That’s the rhythm of this episode — moments of real insight followed by moments of complete absurdity. By the time we get to “What is communication?” the tone shifts again.
We start half-joking, half-serious, about how body-swapping might actually be the most honest depiction of failed communication in families.
After that, things devolve gloriously. Jaclynn admits her lifelong love of Britney Spears, and Robby starts talking about his “sexy Britney Spears summer in Italy." Everyone’s laughing, half out of disbelief, half because this is exactly why we do this podcast — to have these weirdly intimate, unserious-but-serious talks about pop culture that feel like group therapy disguised as conversation. We end by sharing our favorite lines from the movie, and it becomes this collective realization that even though we came into the episode pretending to analyze, what we were really doing was remembering — remembering what it felt like to be teenagers, to want to be understood, to watch something silly and feel like it meant something. We all agree that Freaky Friday isn’t a perfect film or even a perfect movie, but we can't help but find meaning in it anyway.
CREATIVES:
Director: Mark Waters
Screenwriters: Heather Hach & Leslie Dixon
Based on Novel by: Mary Rodgers (1972)
CAST:
Jamie Lee Curtis as Tess Coleman/Anna Coleman (in Tess’s body)
Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman/Tess Coleman (in Anna’s body)
Mark Harmon as Ryan Volvo, Tess' fiancé
Harold Gould as Alan, Tess' father and Anna's grandfather
Chad Michael Murray as Jake, Anna's love interest
Stephen Tobolowsky as Mr. Elton Bates, Anna's high school English teacher
Christina Vidal as Maddie, Anna's bandmate
Ryan Malgarini as Harry Coleman, Tess' son, Anna's younger brother and Alan's grandson
Haley Hudson as Peg, Anna's other bandmate
Rosalind Chao as Pei-Pei Chiang, a Chinese restaurant manager
Lucille Soong as Mrs. Chiang, Pei-Pei's mother
Willie Garson as Evan, Tess' patient
Dina Waters as Dottie Robertson, Tess' boss
Julie Gonzalo as Stacey Hinkhouse, Anna's former friend
Marc McClure as Boris
Mary Ellen Trainor as Diary Reading Patient
Cayden Boyd as Harry's friend
Awards Won and Nominated For:
Won:
BMI Film Music Award to composer Rolfe Kent for the film’s score.
MTV Movie Award – Best Breakthrough Performance (Lindsay Lohan)
Teen Choice Awards – Choice Breakout Movie Star (Female, Lindsay Lohan) & Choice Hissy Fit (Lohan)
Phoenix Film Critics Society – Best Live Action Family Film
Nominated:
Golden Globe – Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) for Jamie Lee Curtis
Wikipedia
Saturn Awards – multiple nominations including Best Fantasy Film, Best Actress, Best Younger Actor, Best Writing
Critics’ Choice – Best Family Film (Live Action)
The Film’s Legacy:
The 2003 version of Freaky Friday holds up as a quietly influential early-2000s teen comedies. It turned body-swap shenanigans into something bound with real emotional stakes — not just laughs but genuine feelings around family, identity and understanding. Although it wasn’t treated as “serious” cinema at the time, we argue that it should be thought of that now.
Sound Design Attributions:
- S: Common Loon 210708.wav by Robert.Crosley | License: Attribution 4.0
- S: Frogs.wav by juskiddink | License: Attribution 4.0
- S: REMORSE male.mp3 by Zypce | License: Creative Commons 0
- S: Disembodied Voice 2 by SilverIllusionist | License: Attribution 4.0
- S: Low, Retro, Downwards Noise by IndyTheCringeMaster | License: Creative Commons 0
- S: Northern California Crickets by ellie.vanderlip | License: Creative Commons 0
