The Parent Trap(1998)

Submitted by Evan B

Pooper:
After going on a camping trip with Meredith and the twins, Nick finally realizes that Meredith is not the right person for him and breaks up with her. Although it initially seems like Nick and Elizabeth will not reunite, Nick follows Elizabeth to Britain and they affirm their love for each other (much to Hallie and Annie’s elation). Nick and Elizabeth get remarried (and their respective household staff members – Chessy and Martin – also get engaged).

Long Ending:
A couple – Nick (Dennis Quaid) and Elizabeth (Natasha Richardson) – quickly fall in love and marry after a whirlwind romance. They become parents to twin girls – Annie and Hallie (both played by Lindsay Lohan). However, as their respective careers begin to take off, the two grow apart and divorce while the girls are still babies. Annie goes to live with Elizabeth in London (the UK), while Hallie stays with Nick in California (USA). The girls grow up and are never told about the other twin, and neither ever meets their other parent.

By circumstance, each parent sends their daughter to the same summer camp. Annie and Hallie eventually meet and immediately take a disliking to each other. They engage in an epic prank war that eventually ends up embroiling the counselors (small role for Maggie Wheeler). As discipline, the two are forced to bunk with each other in an otherwise isolated cabin. There, they become friends and talk about their respective lives. They finally deduce that they must be twins after comparing backstories (not to mention the fact that they look identical). The duo decide that they will swap places and assume each other’s identities at the end of camp so they can go to the home of the parent they haven’t yet met. They plan that after a month or so, they will reveal that they switched places and in so doing, force their parents to reunite (and perhaps rekindle their romance) in order to swap daughters back.

The twins pull off the switch and spend good quality time with their other parent. Annie (pretending to be Hallie) also befriends Nick’s housekeeper Chessy (Lisa Ann Walter), while Hallie (pretending to be Annie) befriends Elizabeth’s butler Martin (Simon Kunz). Annie (as Hallie) is then shocked to learn that Nick got engaged to a younger woman named Meredith (Elaine Hendrix) while they were at camp. Meredith is money hungry and confides to her friends that she plans to send Hallie to boarding school once she’s tied the knot with Nick. This forces the girls to move up their plan. Hallie reveals her true identity to Elizabeth and convinces her mother and Martin to fly her to the US where the girls have coordinated a plan to have their parents have an accidental meeting. Nick is shocked when he sees Elizabeth again, and is also thrilled to have finally met Annie after she reveals her true identity to him. The foursome agree to spend some time together, much to Meredith’s displeasure (cameo by Joanna Barnes, who played Meredith’s role in the original film, now playing Meredith’s mother). Although the girls (with help from Chessy and Martin) manage to arrange a romantic night for their parents, Nick and Elizabeth both affirm they are still not willing to give up their jobs (despite having obvious feelings for each other). Meanwhile, Chessy and Martin quickly fall for each other and go on a few dates.

In a last ditch effort to try and get their parents back together, Annie and Hallie convince Nick to bring them both on an annual camping trip he brings Hallie on. To the girls’ surprise, however, Elizabeth declines to go on the trip and Meredith decides to go instead. Once out in nature, Meredith’s friendly facade begins to disappear as she hates everything to do with the great outdoors. She becomes even more unhinged as Annie and Hallie play various (pretty mean) pranks on Meredith. After the girls push Meredith out into the lake on her air mattress while she sleeps, a fed up Meredith returns to the campsite and makes an ultimatum to Nick – either her or the girls. Nick, without hesitation, chooses his daughters. He breaks up with Meredith and returns home where Elizabeth awaits.

Although Nick and Elizabeth almost kiss, Elizabeth tearfully rejects Nick’s advances as she can’t handle another break up. Everyone (including Chessy and Martin) share a tearful goodbye as Elizabeth, Martin, and Annie return to London. When the trio arrive home, they are surprised to find Nick and Hallie waiting for them. Nick chartered a plane to London to beat them home, saying that he will no longer let his career stand in the way of love and family. Elizabeth and Nick get remarried (and Chessy and Martin get engaged), as Annie and Hallie celebrate being reunited.