The Parent Trap (1998)
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86% of critics liked it
(49 reviews) -
67% of users liked it
(460,562 ratings)
The husband-and-wife team of Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer, who scored with their 1991 remake of the 1950 Father of the Bride, returned for this updating of the 1961 comedy about twins who hope to bring their divorced parents back together. Sheyer and Meyers stayed close to the original screenplay… More The husband-and-wife team of Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer, who scored with their 1991 remake of the 1950 Father of the Bride, returned for this updating of the 1961 comedy about twins who hope to bring their divorced parents back together. Sheyer and Meyers stayed close to the original screenplay by David Swift, based on Erich Kastner's book Das Doppelte Lottchen. At a summer camp in Maine, 11-year-old Hallie Parker (Lindsay Lohan) meets Annie James (also Lindsay Lohan). Despite a curious resemblance, Hallie develops an immediate dislike for Annie, and the feeling is mutual. However, the two eventually discover they are twin sisters separated not long after they were born. Their parents, Elizabeth (Natasha Richardson) and Nick (Dennis Quaid), had met on the Queen Elizabeth 2 and married on that same voyage. After a divorce, Nick brought up Hallie at his Napa Valley vineyard, while Annie lived with wedding-gown designer Elizabeth in London. Neither twin was aware she had a sister, until their summer-camp meeting. To learn more about their parents, they switch places and maintain the deception until Nick states he will remarry. The twins then try to engineer a renewed romance between Nick and Elizabeth, but Nick's annoying but attractive fiancee Meredith (Elaine Hendrix) presents a major problem in reaching their happy-ending goal. Hayley Mills portrayed the twins in the 1961 original and subsequent TV-movie sequels: In The Parent Trap II (1986), the twins are adults with their own romantic problems. In The Parent Trap III (1989), the twins compete for a widower (Barry Bostwick), the father of triplets, and that same year, the twins also returned in Parent Trap Hawaiian Honeymoon (1989). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Directed By
- Nancy Meyers
- Written By
- Nancy Meyers, David Swift, Charles Shyer
- Genres
- Comedy, Kids & Family
- In Theaters
- Jul 29, 1998 Wide
- Studio
- Walt Disney Productions
Critic Reviews
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Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader
This 1998 romantic comedy mostly bores with its cumbersome exposition and close-ups of trivial objects scattered throughout lackluster montage sequences.
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Joe Leydon, Variety
New pic is slick, sentimental and exceptionally well cast, with enough cross-generational appeal to suggest strong commercial potential.
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Wally Hammond, Time Out
The light comedy is sweetly timed, the direction smart and assured, and the visuals bright, colourful, unobtrusive and faultless.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Movies like this remember how much fun escapism can be.
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Janet Maslin, New York Times
The lavish, super-cute new version of The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961 Hayley Mills hit, which was seriously adorable in its own right
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Lindsay Lohan
as Hallie Parker / Annie James
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Dennis Quaid
as Nick Parkes
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Natasha Richardson
as Elizabeth James
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Elaine Hendrix
as Meredith Blake
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Lisa Ann Walter
as Chessi
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Simon Kunz
as Martin
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Polly Holliday
as Marva Kulp Sr.
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Maggie Wheeler
as Marva Kulp Jr.
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Ronnie Stevens
as Grandfather Charles James
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Erin Mackey
as Hallie / Annie (Acting Double)
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Joanna Barnes
as Vicki Blake
- Courtney Woods
- Hallie Meyers-Shyer
- Katerina Graham
- Maggie Emma Thomas


