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Parents' Guide to

The Parent Trap

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Delightful remake is great for the whole family.

Movie PG 1999 127 minutes
The Parent Trap Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 39 parent reviews

scnoelle
scnoelle Parent of 6, 8 and 10-year-old
November 11, 2022
age 13+

A cute remake with some questionable content

A cute remake and Lohan is an excellent actress in it. Watching it as an adult with kids I was very surprised by the many uses of God’s name in vain. Also one scene where Halle is talking to Meredith about her father and they reference sex and him being sexy. A lot of kissing.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
3 people found this helpful.
ageappropriatemama
ageappropriatemama Parent of 5 and 8-year-old
April 7, 2023
age 13+

Rating is wrong

Sex :( L Rating is wrong. ots of adult love storylines. Little girl actually says something about sex, using the word sex and it's a Convo scene so you can not pretend they were talking about something else.

This title has:

Too much sex
2 people found this helpful.
See all 39 parent reviews

What's the Story?

This remake of 1961's THE PARENT TRAP stars Lindsay Lohan as both Hallie and Annie, twin girls separated at birth who meet up at summer camp and decide to switch places. Their father, Nick (Dennis Quaid), owns a vineyard, and their mother, Elizabeth (Natasha Richardson), designs wedding gowns. Meredith (Elaine Hendrix), their dad's scheming girlfriend, hopes to marry Nick for his money -- so Hallie and Annie set out to get their parents back together, and while they're at it, make life miserable for Meredith.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (39 ):
Kids say (80 ):

This is a delightful remake of the Hayley Mills classic. Lohan is utterly adorable and does a masterful job of creating two separate characters, each of whom spends a large part of the movie impersonating the other. But divorced parents should make sure that their children have no illusions of a reconciliation, and all parents should make sure that while it may be charming for the children in the movie to manipulate their parents, it isn't appropriate for real life.

Kids who enjoy this version will get a kick out of comparing it to the original. Make sure that they notice Joanna Barnes, who plays Vicki (the fiancee) in the original, playing Vicki (the fiancee's mother) in the remake.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about divorce. How does this movie portray divorce? Is it realistic? Parents may want to reassure kids if they're distressed by the fact that the parents split up the twins and made no attempt to see the child they gave up.

  • How does this movie compare to the original? Why are some remakes good, while others pale in comparison to the original?

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