The Parent Trap (1998)
Directed by Nancy Meyers
Hallie Parker and Annie James are identical twins who were separated at a young age due to their parents' divorce. Unbeknownst to their parents, the girls are sent to the same summer camp, where they meet, discover the truth about their relationship, and come up with a plan to switch places in an effort to reunite their mother and father.
9 connections found
View:
9 films that influenced The Parent Trap
What critics say influenced The Parent Trap
Thirty-seven years after the original Walt Disney version of "The Parent Trap," a delightful remake hits the screen that is every bit as fun and entertaining as the Hayley Mills original.
The Parent Trap, which was produced by the original "Mickey Mouse organization" in 1961, is back with '90s sensibilities and a new little actress who seems born to carry off the role(s).
Of course, the original The Parent Trap, a 1961 film that pushed all the same "cute" buttons, was saddled with virtually the same bloated running time, which offers a partial explanation as to why Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer felt they had to confine audiences to their seats for so long.
Among sweet, light-hearted comedies, The Parent Trap is as reliable today as it was in 1961 when Hayley Mills starred as twins who were separated as babies.
All of sudden, boom, we hear the theme from "The Great Escape."
Meredith's transparent greed makes her a wonderful foil for Annie and Hallie, who are two of the cleverest trick-playing kids since Macaulay Culkin in "Home Alone."
What's more, the original movie featured a take-off on the "Colonel Bogey March" from "The Bridge on the River Kwai," and this time we hear the march from "The Great Escape."
Advertisement
Credit goes partly to the actress and partly to cinematographer Dean Cundey, who contributes the expertise he cultivated in pictures like "Jurassic Park" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."
Writers David Swift, Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer (the latter two who teamed for "Baby Boom" and "Father of the Bride" I and II) wisely don't fiddle much with the story (based, as was the first film, on the book "Das Doppelte Lottchen" by Erich Kastner), which finds a pair of identical twin sisters separated at birth accidentally meeting at summer camp.
Meyers and Shyer have specialized in light domestic comedies ("Baby Boom,'' "Father Of The Bride''), and they make this into a good one--a family picture that's not too soppy for adults.
The Parent Trap has been refashioned by director Nancy Meyers and her producing partner, Charles Shyer, the Private Benjamin team who brought a high gloss to the 1991 Father of the Bride.
The Meyers-Shyer team -- which includes Cincinnati native Bruce Block as co-producer -- have a sure hand with family comedies such as Baby Boom, Father of the Bride and Irreconcilable Differences.
Advertisement
Credit goes partly to the actress and partly to cinematographer Dean Cundey, who contributes the expertise he cultivated in pictures like "Jurassic Park" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."