The Parent Trap (Special Edition)
by Nancy Meyers
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DVD details
Actor: Dennis Quaid, Elaine Hendrix, Lindsay Lohan, Lisa Ann Walter, Natasha RichardsonDirector: Nancy Meyers
Brand: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Writer: Nancy Meyers
Producer: Bruce A. Block
Producer: Charles Shyer
Writer: Charles Shyer
Producer: Julie B. Crane
Writer: David Swift
Writer: Erich Kästner
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Surround Sound, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 127 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-31
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of The Parent Trap (Special Edition)
DVD Review: Try to enjoy Lindsay Lohan's first film without the ironic frame of reference
Summary: 4 Stars
I am sure the reason "The Parent Trap" is airing on cable television today is not because of Lindsay Lohan's arrest this past week but more because this past Friday "I Know Who Killed Me" opened. So you have to appreciate that they are showing Lohan's first movie on television the same weekend that what may well be her last movie is opening in theaters. It is hard to watch this 1998 remake of the 1961 Haley Miles film of the same name, which is an American version of the German story "Das Doppelte Lottchen" by Erich Kästner filmed in 1950, and not wonder what happened to sweet little Lindsay Lohan. Watching this version again I kept thinking of Rob Schneider's joke on "The Tonight Show" about Lohan being worried about losing jobs to the English chick that played opposite her in "The Parent Trap" (Erin Mackey was the acting double, but that is not who he mean), but the basic situation is way too sentimental to be caustic and cynical for too long when watching this movie again.
My problem with this movie is neither Lohan nor her performance, but rather the parents and the premise. I am tempted to review "The Parent Trap" as a horror film. You have these two people, Nick Parker (Dennis Quaid) and Elizabeth James (Natasha Richardson), who get married and after the birth of twin girls not only get a divorce but decide that to guarantee they never have to see each other ever again they will each take one of their infant daughters and go their separate ways, she to London, England and he to Napa Valley, California. The fact that the roots of this story go back a half-century to post-war Germany makes a lot of sense to me because I can see circumstances warranting such a separation making a lot more sense than a mother deciding she hates her husband enough to give away one of her children. I mean, come on, when Solomon offered his 50-50 deal way back when it was not a serious proposition (I want to ask what sort of parents break up immediately following the birth of their children, but Kevin Federline can now go for the hat trick on that score).
Fortunately, we only have to deal with the interaction of the parents in the third act of this film and as a general rule of thumb if there is not at least one Lindsay Lohan in a scene in this film, it tends not to work as well. The first act finds Hallie Parker and Annie James both arriving at the same Summer Camp (sending your kid to Summer Camp in another country across an entire ocean strikes me as being rather bizarre parental behavior, but it is a necessary plot device in this film). Eventually the girls will figure out the connection between them, which leads to the second act where they switch places to meet the parent they have never met. But before that they terrorize each other in an escalating series of camp hijinks that suggest they are forces to be reckoned with individually, so imagine what they can do if they team up.
The second act is far and away the best part of this film because it is pretty much impossible not to be moved when each girl finally gets to meet their other parent and when the parents finally realize what is going on (although my favorite moment is when Annie reveals her true identity to Lisa Ann Walter's Chessy). Coming clean is mandated because Annie, pretending to be Hallie, learns that their dad is going to marry Meredith Blake (Elaine Hendrix), apparently because he is the only one who cannot tell she is a money-hungry ice queen. So it is up to the twins to set things right, or at least set their parents up so they can do the right thing. One of the things that I think are required in a romance is what I call the "grand gesture," and when Nick takes Elizabeth down to his private wine cellar that is exactly what we get. The two-fold problem is that it does not work and that this particular grand gesture begs the question that needs to be asked of both parents as to why they never bothered to track down their other child. Part of me thinks that the twins would be better off with Chessy and Martin (Simon Kunz). If you can suspend your disbelief with regards to the stupidity of Nick and Elizabeth and the horrible thing they did to their daughters, then you can enjoy this film and the Lindsay Lohan that was.
Description of The Parent Trap (Special Edition)
Features include:
?MPAA Rating: PG
?Format: DVD
?Runtime: 127 minutes
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