# Parent Trap, The (1998)

### reviewed by
David Sunga

    THE PARENT TRAP (1998)

    Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 4.0)
    ********************************
    Key to rating system:
    2.0 stars - Debatable
    2.5 stars - Some people may like it
    3.0 stars - I liked it
    3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie
    4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out
    *********************************

    Directed by:
    Nancy Meyers

Written by: David Swift, Nancy Meyers & Charles Shyer. THE PARENT TRAP is a remake of David Swift's 1961 screenplay which was based on Erich Kastner's 1950 children's book "Das Doppelte Lottchen."

Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, Elaine Hendrix, Lisa Ann Walter, Simon Kunz.

    Ingredients:
    Mischievous preteen twin girls trying to get their divorced parents back
    together

Synopsis: THE PARENT TRAP is a Disney remake of the 1961 Disney movie of the same name. In the 1998 version , Lindsay Lohan plays two twins named Annie and Hallie who were separated shortly after birth, and raised by each single parent, respectively. For example, Annie was raised by her mother, a Londoner, so she has never met her American father. Meanwhile Hallie was raised by her American father, so she has never met her British mother.

By coincidence the twins meet each other at a summer camp, and after a prank-filled rivalry, Annie and Hallie come to realize that they are actually sisters. Filled with curiosity about the parents they never met, they decide to switch places, one going to London while the other to California. Soon afterwards, they hatch plots to reunite their divorced parents and live as one happy family.

Opinion: THE PARENT TRAP is one of those lighthearted, highly entertaining family-values comedies that people of any age can enjoy. It has slapstick pranks, family reunions, romance, and an exciting fencing match. And to top it off, the heroes are kids and the parents are the same age (instead of the typical 90s movie pairing of ancient sugar daddy with hot-bodied young gal).

The talented Lindsay Lohan is effective and charming playing two different eleven-year-old girls: Annie and Hallie. Lohan does so well at it that she easily persuades us she is two different people, who, through eerily coincidental characteristics, come to realize they are twins, although they've been raised oceans apart. Come to think of it, every character in THE PARENT TRAP - - from Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as the parents to hired servants Lisa Ann Walter and Simon Kunz - - manages to be warmly funny and appealing without stealing the show or going over the top.

We're all used to disappointing Hollywood remakes, but thankfully, THE PARENT TRAP is quite refreshing and fun. Everyone does such a top notch and balanced job in THE PARENT TRAP that the 1998 version is just as good or better than the original.

    Reviewed July 28, 1998

Copyright © 1998 by David Sunga This review and others like it can be found at THE CRITIC ZOO: http://www.criticzoo.com email: zookeeper@criticzoo.com

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