The Parent Trap
In 1986, American Nick Parker (Dennis Quaid) and Briton Elizabeth James (Natasha Richardson) meet and get married during an ocean cruise on the RMS Queen Elizabeth II. After the birth of their twin daughters—Annie and Hallie (Lindsay Lohan)—Nick and Elizabeth get a divorce. The divorcing couple agrees that each parent will raise one of the twins without telling her about her sister, and thereafter lose contact with one another. Nick raises Hallie in Napa Valley and becomes a wealthy wine grower, while Elizabeth raises Annie in London and becomes a famous and successful wedding gown designer.
In 1998, Nick and Elizabeth coincidentally enroll their daughters at the same all-girls summer camp in Maine called Camp Walden. Hallie and Annie first meet at the end of a fencing match, when they remove their masks and see that they look exactly alike. A comical hostility between the two girls leads to a brief prank war that ends when the camp director and her assistant fall into one of Hallie's traps, leading the director to send the girls to the "Isolation Cabin," separating the two girls from the rest of the campers.
Living together in the Isolation Cabin, Hallie and Annie discover they were born on the same day, and each has half of a torn wedding photograph of their parents. Realizing with delight they are twins, the girls hatch a plan to meet their previously unknown parents and ultimately reunite them once they decide to reveal their true selves. Each girl trains the other to impersonate her, Hallie cutting Annie's hair and piercing her ears, with the intent to switch places at the end of summer camp.
When camp is over, the twins put their plan into action. Hallie, pretending to be Annie, goes to London to meet her mother, her maternal grandfather, Charles, and the James family's butler, Martin (Simon Kunz). Annie, pretending to be Hallie, goes to Napa to meet her father, her dad's housekeeper, Chessy (Lisa Ann Walter), their dog Sammy, and Nick's young, opportunistic fiancée, Meredith Blake (Elaine Hendrix), who is only interested in Nick's money. Distressed by Meredith's deviousness, Annie telephones Hallie and persuades her to bring Elizabeth to California to break up the engagement. However, Charles catches Hallie on the phone, and in California, Chessy figures out that Annie has been there the whole time instead of Hallie. Soon, everyone discovers the girls' identities, except for Nick and Meredith, who all remain unaware of the switch until their newfound family members surprise them.
To bring Nick and Elizabeth together, Hallie, Annie, Chessy, Martin, and Charles conspire to have them meet at a hotel in San Francisco by arranging for Nick to meet Meredith's parents and by not telling Elizabeth about Meredith. Nervous about meeting Nick, Elizabeth asks Martin to accompany Hallie and her to San Francisco. After a few comical mix-ups in the hotel, Nick and Elizabeth eventually see each other in an unexpected way. Nick finally learns about the switch, and the girls host a candlelit dinner for their parents, served by Chessy and Martin, on a yacht decorated to recreate their first meeting that was on Queen Elizabeth II. At dinner, Elizabeth mentions that Nick did not follow her after she left him, and Nick responds that he was not sure if Elizabeth wanted him to. They make plans for the girls to spend holidays together, but decide against resuming their relationship.
Dismayed, Hallie and Annie force their parents to take them on a camping trip—the annual outing Nick and Hallie take before school starts—while keeping quiet about which twin is which. Elizabeth coaxes Meredith into camping with Nick and the girls in her place, while she stays behind at the Parker residence. During the trip, the girls play various tricks on Meredith. It all boils over after the two execute their final prank of sending a sleeping Meredith and her airbed out on the lake by their camp. Meredith becomes enraged and gives Nick an ultimatum: her or his daughters. Nick chooses the girls over Meredith and breaks off the engagement. Although Annie and Hallie are both punished for their shenanigans, they accept it, as they are rid of Meredith for good. After they go inside and to their room, Nick remarks to Elizabeth, "I got to remember to thank them one day".
As Chessy has been away with Martin, on a two day picnic, Nick shows Elizabeth his wine collection, which includes the wine they drank at their wedding. Elizabeth is touched at first, but has a change of heart and returns to London with Annie, afraid of what could happen between Nick and herself. However, when Annie and Elizabeth get home, they find Hallie and Nick waiting for them, having flown there on the Concorde. They explain that they had realized they didn't want to lose Annie and Elizabeth again, and Nick finally chased after Elizabeth like he should've done the first time she left. Elizabeth is fearful of remarrying, but she yields to Nick's unwavering confidence, and Hallie and Annie look on happily as their parents embrace. A montage of pictures (similar to stop motion) during the credits show Nick and Elizabeth getting remarried aboard the QE2, with the girls as bridesmaids and Charles, Martin and Chessy all in attendance, Martin and Chessy becoming engaged that same night.
cute, entertaining, prank