The Parent Trap - Review

Yet another trip down memory lane. I remember my sister and I watched the Parent Trap many times as kids. So much so, that I could recite many lines from this movie with the exact same pitch. That's a sign that you've seen a movie too many times. However, watching it as an adult made me watch the film from an entirely different angle. As a kid, I saw the film as two twin sisters who meet after being separated from birth and switching places on their parents. That is really the "shell" of the movie. The real story is about two people that separated long ago and is reunited with their daughters and the conflict comes from what to do next? Simply get back together? Keep the daughters split? If you haven't seen the movie, I won't spoil the ending, but I think you know how it ends already. This is a Disney film after all. So right off the bat I was more invested in the adult storylines more so than I did when I was a kid. Finally noticing that Nick Parker's (Dennis Quaid) new girlfriend is actually with him solely for his money. Noticing all the jokes about sex and alcohol and noticing that JANICE FROM FRIENDS IS IN THIS MOVIE!?!?! Holy crap! She is! Don't remember? She's one of the supervisors at the camp. All those unnoticed story moments along with the story I remembered as a kid make this film a great film not only for kids but for adults too. Also, before I popped this movie in my VCR (yes, we watched it old school), I told myself that I would try to see any flaws in the process of cloning Lindsay Lohan. I couldn't find any. Those effects still hold up today just in the fact that I have no idea how they did it. Did I think maybe they weren't seen on screen at the same time? Nope. Not even close. I don't know how they were able to do those effects and to be quite honest, I don't really want to know how. The film just does a fantastic job. You know who else does a fantastic job? Lindsay Lohan. She is fantastic! I wish that she didn't go down the road she did because she was one hell of an actress. Not only is she brilliant, but so is the supporting cast, especially, Elaine Hendrix as Meredith Blake and Lisa Ann Walter as Chessy. They both have some really hilarious moments that got a genuine laugh out of me. The Parent Trap definitely holds up almost 20 years later and is a genuinely good movie. Check it out.

PS - Dennis Quaid looks like me dad. I couldn't stop thinking of that the entire time.