Were the characters here better than in Freaky Friday?

I certainly think so. Whether or not you prefer the Freaky Friday movie(s) to this, I think the overall characterization for Alexia and Haley is just more fleshed out.

The girls make errors of course. Alex is a total bitch in her own body, but this trait becomes more forgivable when you keep in mind that she is 17-18 years old. Although Haley is sweeter than her sister at the beginning, she is not an angel. She reads Alex's diary and hangs out in her room which is a violation of privacy and trust. When she gets a better grade on a test than Alex she grins and waves her test in front of her face like a brat. All these things could be justified by her saying that Alex is mean to her, but they are siblings--who was mean to who first is almost irrelevant when you are kids.


Even though she is nasty at the start, when Alex has her first day as Hayley she actually tries very hard to take care of Hayley's life. She dresses like Hayley, and even asks her if removing the dirt from her fingernails is ok. Sure she said it in a mocking tone but I have a feeling that if her sister had said no, Alex would have respected her wishes. She asks if there is anything she should know about being Hayley and carries out the day as instructed (go to school, fake sick, go home and eat). She hangs out with Caitlyn because she knows that that is what Hayley would do, and is even decent to Simon until she finds out he and Hayley aren't friends. When he tries to introduce herself she quickly backs out because she has no idea how Hayley would react. Her fatal mistake was assuming that Hayley would know how she was expected to conduct herself as Alex. Hayley viewed the whole thing as a chance to do everything she would like to do if she was Alex, then went out and did it. It's only when Hayley screws up that Alex goes crazy.

My point is, even though they are not perfect they have their issues then get through them. And by the way, that smile they share at the end is absolutely beautiful.