Parent Trap
The Parent Trap is a Walt Disney remake of the venerable 60s flick starring Halley Mills. The remake stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson. The real star is, of course, Lindsay Lohan. She does a nice job as twins, especially differentiating the two characters she plays, Hallie and Annie, even while making them enough alike to create the confusion necessary to make the plot work. This is the story of two girls separated at (or rather near) birth by estranged parents. They are never told that they each have a sister. The mother becomes a wedding gown designer in London and the father a vintner in Napa Valley. At age eleven the two girls meet by sheere happenstance at a summer camp. They are rivals early on, but they soon discover their relationship as twins. Because they both want to see the parent they thought they never had, they switch places, with a vague plan in mind to get the parents back together. The rest of the movie is about their adventures separately and together with their parents and their respective servants (the English butler played by Simon Kunz and the American Nanny played by Lisa Ann Walter). The film is fun to a point, but I think there are a few gags that go over the top, especially when the twins play practical jokes on each other in camp. Going over-the-top or beyond reality is okay in a film where that is the primary motif, as in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but in a children's movie the slapstick provided is not compensation enough for the stretch beyond reality, which ultimately takes the viewer out of the film and makes him think about the actual film-making. Although this is a children's film, this 47 year old male reviewer found it entertaining. The plot twists are obvious, but engagingly written and performed. The picture gives a sense of morality, family, and relationship that is generally positive. (This actually helps create tension as the plot unfolds.) There were several emotional reunion scenes, most of which played well and honestly. Even so, there might have been one too many tugs on the heartstrings. When I mentioned this to my wife, she thought not and that the sentiment was well done. My daughter loved the movie and looked at me several times, especially as scenes unfolded between daughters and father. Dennis Quaid hit the right balance between doting father and a man interested in his own affairs. Natasha Richardson was marvelous as the mother, glamorous, yet vulnerable, caring and thoughtful. You could see how she could be a career woman and still be a loving mother. There was definitely too much smooching for my six year old son, who thought the movie was over and done several times before the denoument. All in all, this was a pretty good family movie. Learn about child psychology so you can understand them before they can get control of you! |