The notable thing about this lame excuse for a comedy is seeing the promise Lindsay Lohan displayed in Freaky Friday utterly squandered.

Perhaps without a comic foil of the calibre of Jamie Lee Curtis to spark off had her struggling to make something of a one-dimensional role.

Or maybe she struck lucky getting cast in one of the few remakes to actually turn out better than the orginal. Either way, this reveals her shortcomings for all to see.

She plays Lola Cep, a teen girl-about-Manhattan who gets a rude cultural awakening when her family are forced to move to suburban New Jersey.

Anyone expecting a zippy Clueless-style dissing of the cute styles and traditions of white collar America is going to be disappointed.

Lola turns up, makes a couple of waspish comments, pals up with school nerd (Pill) and slightly miffs school bitch Carla Santini (Fox).

Then there's a particularly underpowered sub-plot involving a rock singer who appears to have learnt his craft from Mick Jagger. The Mick Jagger in Stella Street.

The whole edifice stands or falls on the quality of Lohan's performance - and here she looks dangerously out of her depth.

Despite being spoon-fed tart dialogue, every barb is neutered as soon as it leaves her mouth, giving the impression of being savaged by a Barbie Doll.

It's really sub-teen fare with nothing to surprise and certainly none of the clever wordplay and perfectly pitched performances that distinguished Freaky Friday.

If this really purports to be the confessions of a teenage drama queen, they obviously haven't been on the receiving end of one of Elton's rants.

Tim Evans