"Old And Young"

Freaky Friday
directed by Mark S. Waters
screenplay by Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon
based on the novel by Mary Rodgers
starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Chad Murray

Swimming Pool
directed by Francois Ozon
written by Emmanuele Bernheim and Francois Ozon
starring Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance, Jean-Marie Lamour

                There is a tragic desire about wanting to be young again, knowing that in all reality, there is no way of returning to your youth.  It is much different from that desire for young people to be older, a goal they will eventually reach.  Yet our memories of childhood are perceptually different from how it actually was, in retrospect.  We forget everything but the ease and fun and freedom. 
           When I was young  I read the novels of Mary Rodgers, each focusing on that old proverb which says not to judge a person until you've walked in their shoes, quite literally, in fact.  In the first of her series of books, Freaky Friday, now in its third adaptation from Disney, a mother and daughter swap bodies forcing them to live out a whole day in each other's lives. 
          I also grew up during a decade that brought other similar stories to the screen.  When I got older, there was a nostalgia for movies like Vice Versa and Like Father, Like Son, even though looking back, they aren't nearly as fun as I remembered.  The genre died out and eventually became something of a joke to me that they were even made at all.  Still, as sentimental kitsch, I awaited the comeback.
          In this recent version of the tale, names and relationships have changed.  The mother, renamed Tess Coleman (Curtis), is on the verge of remarrying.  Between the wedding and her job as successful psychiatrist with a newly published book, she has not only neglected the proper attentions of her children while taking her stress out on them instead.  Her daughter, Annabel (Lohan) has the typical high school problems of schoolwork, crushes on boys, mean-spirited popular girls, and a conniving  little brother.  The two yell and scream about how hard their lives are and insist the other couldn't last a day in their place.  Thanks to a magic fortune cookie, they are given the lesson of a lifetime and awake the next day having switched bodies.
            Like in the other takes on the plot, the roles are taken on with slight carelessness.  Lohan, like many young stars, adapts fairly well to the adult behaviors, if not with too much seriousness and hard-faced perceptions of maturity.  Curtis, though, falls into the same trappings as Judge Reinhold and Dudley Moore before her, playing too young, too childish and too goofy.  I only wish that in these situations, the actors would attempt a much stronger impersonation or representation of the other actor's persona like is done in Face/Off, a film I never really thought of until now as being of nearly the same brand. 
           We are treated to absurd circumstances and sitcom-style misunderstandings leading, for example, to Annabel's crush (Murray) thinking he's in love with her mother and the discovery that a teacher takes bygone problems out on his students.   Those are probably the most fun aspects of a  picture that otherwise retreads scenes such as Tess' realization of how difficult high school math is or Annabel's unlikely reckless driving habits.   Then there are other interesting subplots involving the younger brother's true intentions and a classmate who just can't be reached in a peaceful manner, both of which never seem resolved fully.
          While there is much to make fun of and criticize about the first two acts, the third is actually very touching.  Of course the mother and daughter come to understand the other's points of view and eventually switch back, but the real issue becomes Annabel's acceptance of her future step-father (Harmon).  On top of all the usual teenage troubles that we can expect her to go through and make apparent to her mother, this one is the most heartwarming and successful.
           Aside from a hackneyed bit involving some Cyrano mannered guitar playing at a concert, the last half hour makes the new Freaky Friday recover from being a horrible waste of time.  In comparison to those switcheroo comedies of the 80s, the message is clearer and more honest.  We aren't forced through any sort of action story line or rushed climax.  Instead the script is honest appreciation for the devices so that underneath all the ridiculous ideas is a very good one that young people as well as their parents will likely enjoy.

                     In Francois Ozon's new film, however, devices are brought in with a more gimmicked result than even a body-switching.  What could have been an otherwise simple yet beautiful story of empathy suddenly flounders into its denouement with an unwelcome attempt at cleverness.
             Charlotte Rampling plays the seemingly dowdy novelist Sarah Morton who is looking for new inspiration in her writing.  Wanting to vacation from her successful mystery series, she accepts an offer to stay at her publisher's house in southern France where she hopes to quietly author something more personal.  We slowly follow her curiosities and discoveries of the estate and the nearby village as she delights in the tranquility of her new surroundings.  Then one night, as Sarah is sleeping, a young girl shows up with a great deal of noise and distraction.  This is Julie (Sagnier), the publisher's crass daughter who is no more excited at the idea of a prim houseguest than Sarah is of the unexpected intrusion.   
           Julie is stays up late, brings sleazy old men home for loud sex and enjoys swimming in the pool naked.  As perturbed as Sarah feels, underneath she is also intrigued by the young girl's life.  The more Sarah becomes interested, the more the relationship between the strangers grows in terrific conversation pieces and moments where the audience is treated to how much the two women have in common. 
             Then abruptly a murder takes place and a quirky bit of mystery is introduced.  Although the sudden change in story was unexpected, there was a moment where I became greatly interested in what would come next.  The answers, though, came quickly and not satisfactorily.  Then an actual twist came at the very end that just plain made me angry.  I can't give away that twist or even describe what was so disappointing.  I just wish that film makers weren't so pressed toward being creative that they could just be honest and real in their pictures. 
             There could be enough going on for two characters to envy each other without suspect and a lot of interest involved in the relations between such different types of people.  Admiration is often based on age in either direction and Ozon developed a beautiful example of this.  If you were to walk out after the first hour and fifteen minutes, I think you might walk away stimulated.  If, however, you stay for the third act, you are likely to leave disapponted.

"Not so fast mister!  I know all about your plans of 'stealing home'."