|
|
|
|
 |
|||
|
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
| ||||||||||||
|
|
The Parent Trap Review by Carrie
Gorringe
The Parent Trap represents something of a dilemma for the average reviewer; it’s not a film so much as it is a modern myth of sorts. Call it the manifestation of a modern wish fulfillment for children of divorced parents. After all, in an era in which, we are told, divorce rates have, until recently, been skyrocketing, wouldn’t it be comforting to believe in the concept of Mom and Dad, as a single, forever inseparable, unit are just a reconciliation scheme or two away from realization? For Baby-Boomer parents like director Meyers and her husband, Shyer, the idea of remaking one of their cultural icons must have been an irresistible idea – a way of sharing their past with their children. Moreover, the entire concept seems to get more endearing with every remake (the 1961 original starred Maureen O’Hara and the late Brian Keith as the parents, with Hayley Mills playing the twins, and there was also a 1988 made-for-cable version); it’s cuddly to the point of pathology.  Like any other myth, however, it has a pathological streak all its own. Parent
Trap wants its audience to entertain the possibility that parents, for the sake of
their own convenience, could separate their biologically-identical children with impunity
– and then the audience is to disregard this rather hideous behavior as quickly as
possible. Try as anyone might, however, it’s a difficult task to master; the
discomfiture one feels over such parental insolence is never far from a filmgoer’s
consciousness. The secret to making Parent Trap , and other myths, work as a form
of entertainment is to keep the tempo moving and the personalities and situations flowing
fast enough so that the positive aspects of the story keep the more monstrous aspects just
at bay, and this version succeeds in doing so. Richardson and Quaid are just perfect in
their roles as the parents from heaven who carry their guilty secret not far from their
hearts. The film, of course, belongs to Lindsey Lohan, who assumes the challenges in the
role of identical twins with such gusto that she convinces the audience beyond any doubt
as to the distinctiveness of each facet of her dual personalities
Contents | Features | Reviews | News | Archives | Store Copyright © 1999 by Nitrate Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
That having
been said, this new version is not without a few flaws. For starters, it’s a little
too impatient to cut to the chase; consequently, it treats much of the expository
material, where the two sisters meet, as something that has to be gotten past as quickly
as possible, and the charm of the two sisters rediscovering each other for the first time
threatens to implode under the force of speed. It might also be nice if director Meyers
could tame her aggravating tendency toward using too many dolly shots and
superimpositions, especially during crowd scenes; at times, Parent Trap looked more
like a product of Leni Riefenstahl’s second unit. On the other hand, since Parent
Trap is a form of triumph of the will (best referred to as Kinder Über Alles ), maybe the unintentional analogy contained
in the film’s visuals is appropriate, after all.