Interesting Variation of the Parent Trap plot, with None of its Charm

The appeal for this movie is its similarities and differences from Parent Trap. In this case, the twins know each other and their non-custodial parents even though they rarely see them. So we miss the emotional epiphanies when the two discover each other’s existence. In this movie, the mother is an uptight famous child psychologist engaged to a Senator. The dad is a scruffy newspaperman. The twins are 16 or 17 years old when the movie starts, so teen romance does play a large part in the plot. Mom’s daughter is a conservative intellectual genius, Dad’s is a dumb blonde and a jitterbug queen. Hilarity ensues when they decide on impulse to change places. Sounds pretty good, right? It would have been very good indeed had this movie had the great stars and performances (and charm) of either the Hayley Mills-led project or the Lindsey Lohan vehicle. But no. All of the players are pretty pedestrian, and so is this movie. Oh well, glad I saw it anyway. Can’t believe I was unaware of this until I saw it listed on TCM. I’m a huge Hayley Mills and Parent Trap fan. I read the book (Lottie and Lisa) when it was finally re-issued in English in 2015.

June 2, 2019