Quentin Tarantino Chooses The Perfect Disney Movie
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Quentin Tarantino loves the ending sequence of the 2003 version of the Disney film Freaky Friday. The film, which turns 20 this year, stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan as a mother and daughter who switch bodies on Friday the 13th. It’s a remake of the 1977 version of the story, which starred Barbra Harris and Jodie Foster.
Quentin Tarantino recently singled out the ending scene of Freaky Friday starring Jamie Lee Curits and Lindsay Lohan as being cinematic perfection.
A Freaky Friday film doesn’t seem like the most logical thing for Quentin Tarantino to get excited about, but the director was apparently impressed with a particular sequence. This actually makes sense since the Inglorious Basterds auteur is known for his total lack of cinematic snobbery and ability to see good in all sorts of movies. Ten years ago, he even praised the much-maligned The Lone Ranger, calling it one of the best movies of 2013.
So it’s not a particular stretch to believe Quentin Tarantino praised a film like Freaky Friday, even though it might at first seem like paint-by-numbers, pre-packaged fare. In fact, the film itself has become something of a cult classic as part of a string of mostly-remake movies Lohan made with Disney, beginning with The Parent Trap and including Herbie Fully Loaded and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.
Two decades later, it has spawned a sequel, with plans announced earlier this year for Lohan and Curtis to reprise their roles in a Disney+ continuation of the mother-daughter story.
Quentino Tarantino has expressed his love for Disney movies before, in addition to Freaky Friday, he thought The Lone Ranger was 2013’s best movie.
For Quentin Tarantino’s part, the sequence in Freaky Friday that takes place at the House of Blues got him most excited—at least, according to a story told by the film’s director. To further demonstrate the following the movie has, consider that The Hollywood Reporter staged a cast reunion to celebrate its crossing of the two-decade mark. The conversation occurred between stars Lucille Soong, Chad Michael Murray, Rosalind Chao, Ryan Malgarini, Christina Vidal, and director Mark Waters and producer Andrew Gunn.
It was Waters who told the story about Quentin Tarantino’s interest in Freaky Friday, saying that he was once “cornered” at a party by Tarantino, who went into great detail regarding his love for the House of Blues sequence. The scene features Lindsey Lohan’s character, Anna (actually her mother, Tess), faking playing the guitar onstage Tess (who is Anna on the inside) does the real playing behind the curtain.
Quentin Tarantino once cornered Freaky Friday director Mark Waters at a party to express his love for the ending sequence of the film.
Quentin Tarantino was apparently greatly impressed with this sequence in Freaky Friday, explaining to Waters in detail why it was so impressive to him, calling it a “perfect ending” to the movie. Waters was amazed that the legendary director was, in his words, “fan-geeking” over the sequence but thought it was “pretty cool.” It’s not exactly the story one would expect to be told about a Disney family film, but there it is.
If Quentin Tarantino can appreciate Freaky Friday, maybe there’s something in the film for those of us who have yet to see its apparent “genius.” That story, along with the in-development sequel (which Curtis says will get back under way after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes) make us want to give the movie another look.
