THERE'S a lot going on in the life of widow Tess Coleman (Curtis). She's a single mum, she's a successful psychiatrist, and she's about to get married.

So the last thing she wants is an on-going love-hate relationship with 15-year-old daughter Anna (Lohan).

Matters come to a head the morning after a visit to a Chinese restaurant and that good old movie magic staple the fortune cookie.

And Tess and Anna have a little more than indigestion on their minds when they wake up. To their great shock and horror, mother and daughter have swapped bodies. And the wedding is only days away.

A remake of a 1976 Disney film starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris, Freaky Friday is a rare thing a consistently funny comedy with gags aplenty to keep its audience laughing regularly from start to finish.

It's also unusual for comedies to cross the age barrier and appeal to all members of the family, but Freaky Friday neither condescends to its younger viewers, nor offends the grown ups with lame jokes or sentimentality.

There is a wealth of material here to tickle the funny bone. Anna, in Tess's body, is clueless when it comes to dealing with her mum's patients, but overjoyed at discovering the plastic in her purse and the chance to give mum a makeover.

Tess, in Anna's body, is uncertain how to tackle playing guitar in her daughter's rock band, or coping with a motorbike-riding suitor, but does see the chance to improve Anna's high school grades.

The script and pace of the film are pitched perfectly, with plenty of opportunities for inventive situations which will keep the audience on its toes and attempting to work out who is doing what with whom.

But Freaky Friday lives or dies by its central performances and Curtis and Lohan are both excellent, making the transition from stroppy, demanding teenager to uptight, stressed out adult and vice versa very smoothly.

Curtis certainly proves herself to be an excellent comedy actress, whose timing, delivery and physicality bring to mind the best work of her father, Tony Curtis.

OUT! rating: 7 out of 10

Film writer Stephen Webb reviews FREAKY FRIDAY

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan

Director: Mark Waters

Certificate: PG

Running time: 97 mins

Showing at: UGC and Cineworld, Swindon