Freaky Friday

Freaky Friday is a 1976 American fantasy-comedy film directed by Gary Nelson, with the screenplay written by Mary Rodgers based on her 1972 novel of the same name. The film stars Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster in the lead roles. John Astin, Patsy Kelly and Dick Van Patten are featured in supporting roles. In the film, a mother and her daughter switch their bodies, and they get a taste of each other's lives. The cause of the switch is left unexplained in this film, but occurs on Friday the 13th, when Ellen and Annabel, in different places, say about each other at the same time, "I wish I could switch places with her for just one day". Rodgers added a water skiing subplot to her screenplay. Freaky Friday was released theatrically in the United States on January 21, 1977, by Buena Vista Distribution. The film received positive reviews from critics with praise for Foster and Harris's performances and was a box office success, grossing $36 million on a $5 million budget. At the 34th Golden Globe Awards, it received three nominations: Best Actress – Comedy or Musical (for both Foster and Harris), and Best Original Song ("I'd Like to Be You for a Day"). The success of the film's release led to the launch of a franchise. Plot Ellen Andrews (Barbara Harris) and her daughter Annabel (Jodie Foster) constantly quarrel. Following a disagreement on Thursday, before Friday the 13th, Annabel leaves to join a friend at a local diner. In sync, Annabel and Ellen (who is in the family home's kitchen) both wish aloud, "I wish I could switch places with her for just one day". Their wish comes true when their bodies are switched. After a brief scene where they are shocked at seeing their new appearances, both ladies proceed as each other normally would. Annabel is now a housewife, tending to laundry, car repair, grocery deliveries, carpet cleaners, dry cleaners, her housemaid, and the family Basset hound, Max. As though Annabel did not have her hands full, Bill Andrews (John Astin) coerces her to cook dinner for twenty-five people as his catered dinner party plans fell through. Annabel enlists Boris (Marc McClure), a neighbor on whom she has harbored a crush, to look after her younger brother and help make a chocolate mousse but all three manage to mess everything up, then later saving face by making everything into a smörgåsbord. Annabel does have a bright spot with her brother, Ben, such as getting to have personal discussions with him, when she picks him up from school.