The Parent Trap (1998) – Movie Review

Meet the Church family. This was their first time watching movies at the Community House with their little ones. The girls were excited to snuggle up in their pajamas and blankets on the lawn to watch “The Parent Trap” with mom and dad!

The Red River Community House hosts movies like this on Wednesday evenings during the summer, so bring the kids and enjoy the show 🙂

When asked what their favorite part of the movie was, these girls both agreed, “Dipping Oreo cookies in peanut butter!”

Nothing beats a nostalgic flick on the lawn of the Red River Community House. On the chilled summer night of June 8th, 2022, folks gathered for a fun-filled screening of Nancy Meyer’s 1998 Disney phenom “The Parent Trap,” starring the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Elaine Hendrix, and the late Natasha Richardson.

Lindsay Lohan taking on this role at the age of 10 truly jump-started her stardom. We follow the journey of Annie & Hallie, identical twins unknowingly separated at birth. Annie, living with her mom (Richardson) and butler Martin (Simon Kunz), lives lavishly in London as her mother works as a wedding gown designer. Hallie, living alongside her father (Quaid) and housekeeper Chessy (Lisa Ann Walter), resides in a vineyard in Napa Valley owned by their family.

Upon pulling up to Camp Walden for a summer getaway, both girls have been raised on parallel yet polarizing standards of growing up. Their first encounter in camp fencing ends with taking off their masks to resemble a respectful match, and imagine their surprise when they see the mirror image of themselves they never knew existed!

Considering their upbringings, a rivalry amongst the girls’ cabins ensues. After a prank war goes awry, Annie and Hallie are sentenced to an isolation cabin, no one but each other to keep company. When all seems chaotic and cruel, a torn wedding photo reveals everything that honestly should’ve been realized when they first laid eyes on each other: they’re twins, living across the world with parents that fell out of love.

A plan is hatched to bring their biological parents together, involving switching homes, switching lives, and switching personalities in hopes of reuniting a lost relationship across continents. What follows is an adventure of innocent deception, psycho girlfriends, boat rides, and “L-O-V-E” by The Hit Crew. And who could forget that iconic handshake?

Come for the playful camp classic, stay for the romance in every corner. These dynamics are to die for. A summer must-watch!