Date: Fri 04-Sep-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Hayley-Quaid-Richardson-Lohan

Full Text:

NOW PLAYING: Dual Roles & Formidable Task: Lohan Pulls It Off With New "Parent

Trap"

By Trey Paul Alexander III

Who's Hayley Mills?

This was the formidable task confronting freckle-faced Lindsay Lohan: make

audiences forget the much-beloved, towheaded star of 1961's The Parent Trap .

Does Lohan pull it off? The answer is a resounding yes, though this reviewer

admits to never having seen the original film until after seeing the updated

version now playing in theatres.

Lohan, like Mills before her, plays the dual role of twin sisters who scheme

to reunite their divorced parents and make their family whole once again. The

two, initially unaware they are family, let alone twins, meet at a girls'

summer camp and begin a fierce rivalry of one-upmanship that includes a fiery

fencing match (take that, Zorro!), high stakes poker, and messy cabin pranks.

The ensuing mayhem leads to them being separated from the other campers and

put into an "isolation cabin" together. It is here that Hallie, a saucy

Californian who lives with her vineyard-owning dad (Dennis Quaid), and Annie,

a more refined yet also spunky girl who has grown up with her fashion designer

mother (Natasha Richardson) in London, discover their family ties and concoct

a wacky plot to get their parents back together.

They conspire to switch places, giving each an opportunity to meet their

long-lost parent and setting up an inevitable meeting between mom and dad once

they realize they must return the siblings. After dialogue coaching, hair

trims and a harrowing (yet hilarious) ear piercing, they are primed and ready

to go. The girls successfully switch places and all seems to go according to

plan until Annie discovers that dear old dad plans to wed a young cutie

(Elaine Hendrix), who wants to marry him for his money. It's a red alert! She

calls Hallie in London and advises her to speed things up or all their plans

will be for waste.

The Parent Trap has plenty going for it, not the least of which is the husband

and wife team Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer, who were responsible for

Disney's remake of Father of the Bride and its sequel. Here, with Nancy taking

on the directorial chores for the first time, they give this update a light

touch and a whole lot of heart, without laying on any false sentiment.

Particularly moving are the scenes in which the girls meet their parents for

the first time. Lohan is touching as she convincingly conveys these emotional

moments. Her wide eyes and lasting hugs relate the joy of a child finally

holding the other parent and growing up with the love of both parents.

Lohan, for that matter, is a joy throughout the film. She deserves much credit

for making both sisters very distinctive. The wonderful world of digital

effects makes it possible for her to be in two places at one time, shake hands

with herself, cross paths, and do all manner of things Mills would never have

thought possible. But it's Lohan, not the skilled effects crew, who makes it

all credible. Plus, she follows in Mills' footsteps by making the girls very

scampish and determined, without crossing the line over to brattiness or

annoyance.

The rest of the cast is also more than serviceable, with Hendrix really laying

into her role as the conniving gold-digger, and Simon Kunz and Lisa Ann Walter

as Annie's expressive butler and Hallie's no-nonsense nanny, respectively.

The Parent Trap , rated PG for mild mischief and one minor profanity, is a

treat for the whole family. It should be a joy to those unfamiliar with the

original, and a pleasant surprise to those doubting that a 90s version could

ever measure up to Hayley Mills' hijinks.