The Parent Trap (1998)

At a summer camp for girls in Maine, two look alike girls (11 year old Lindsay Lohan in her film debut) discover they are twin sisters. They were separated shortly after their birth when the parents broke up and one went to live in England with her mother (Natasha Richardson) and the other to California with the father (Dennis Quaid). Directed by Nancy Meyers (SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE), this is a remake of the beloved 1961 Walt Disney classic which in turn was based on a German book DAS DOPPELTE LOTTCHEN by Erich Kastner. It's one of those rare remakes which retains most of the charm from the original which it sticks close to, so much so that the 1961 film's original screenwriter David Swift is credited with co-writing the screenplay. There are some changes with some of the characters. The grandmother is eliminated and we're given a butler (Simon Kunz) instead which was a mistaken attempt at being "cute". Lohan is adorable and actually manages to create two distinct characters which her predecessor Hayley Mills had trouble doing. Meanwhile, Quaid and Richardson provide suitable romantic leads. Joanna Barnes, who played the gold digging fiancee in the 1961 original here plays the mother of the gold digging fiancee (Elaine Hendrix). With Lisa Ann Walter and Ronnie Stevens.