THE PARENT TRAP (1998) Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, Elaine Hendrix, Lisa Ann Walter, Simon Kunz. Screenplay: David Swift and Nancy Meyers & Charles Shyer, based on "Das Doppelte Lottchen" by Erich Kastner. Producer: Charles Shyer. Director: Nancy Meyers. MPAA Rating: PG (mild profanity) Running Time: 125 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
There are probably equal reasons to fear for the worst and hope for the best in considering a remake of Disney's 1961 film THE PARENT TRAP. On the one hand, you have Disney's recent track record plundering its own vaults for tiresome, frantic "updates" like 101 DALMATIANS, THAT DARN CAT and FLUBBER. On the other hand, you have the film-making team of Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers, who infuriated purists by daring to remake FATHER OF THE BRIDE then turned out a thoroughly charming father-daughter relationship story which in some ways improved on the original (Martin Short's over-the-top Franck-o-phone notwithstanding). Which would rule: 1990s Disney scatalogy-mongering, or Shyer/Meyers restraint and family appeal?
It's a pleasure to report that the 1998 model of THE PARENT TRAP offers far more of the latter than the former, though it's far from an unqualified success. The story again concerns two young twins -- California girl Hallie Parker and Londoner Annie James (both played by Lindsay Lohan) -- who never knew of each other's existence until they meet at a New England summer camp. It seems that their parents Nick (Dennis Quaid) and Elizabeth (Natasha Richardson) impulsively married then impulsively divorced years earlier, dividing everything down the middle incuding their children. With each one intrigued by the prospect of meeting the parent she has never known, as well as the prospect of bringing Nick and Elizabeth together again, the two girls decide to switch places when returning home from camp. There turns out to be one major snag in the plan, however: Nick's new fiancee Meredith (Elaine Hendrix), a gold-digging manipulator who spells nothing but trouble.
What's most right about THE PARENT TRAP is that it avoids what has been most wrong about other recent Disney remakes. From the opening credits sequence, which depicts Nick and Elizabeth's whirlwind marriage to the tune of Nat King Cole's "L-O-V-E," THE PARENT TRAP seems to have a modicum of class and an interest in telling a story without explosions or flatulence. There are some high-spirited pranks as the girls compete at camp, and a bit of slapstick during a camping trip, but mostly it's just a pleasant, amusing diversion that could have been made 30 years ago like the original. A high-concept premise rarely feels this low-concept.
The one thing it couldn't have had thirty years ago is 11-year-old Lindsay Lohan, the film's captivating star. Child actors are trouble enough, and child actors in their first feature film even more so, but Lohan's good-natured sweetness is infectious. She even adopts a quite serviceable English accent which should make more veteran actors (are you listening, Kevin Costner) hang their heads in shame. Lohan is just part of a solid cast, including Hendrix as a juicy villainess and Lisa Ann Walter as Nick's acerbic housekeeper, which gives the story plenty of humor and warmth. And it's a nice touch to see Joanna Barnes, reprising her character from the original PARENT TRAP in the appropriate role of Meredith's mother.
As is the case with most remakes, it's tough to argue that THE PARENT TRAP was crying out for a contemporary re-telling. This version brings nothing revolutionary to the table, drags through some sluggish spots in its two hour running time, and never really builds much chemistry between Quaid and Richardson. Most disappointing is the climactic camping trip where the twins torment the hapless city girl Meredith; the sequence is too short, the editing too choppy, and the resolution far too abrupt. THE PARENT TRAP is basically the kind of film usually described with a dismissive word like "cute," which is certainly accurate enough. "Cute" films are becoming harder and harder to find, however, and this one keeps things light enough to sidestep any of Shyer and Meyers' more saccharine impulses. Every once in a while, uncomplicated and inoffensive fun feels just right.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 parental consents: 6.
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