Day 1465: The Parent Trap

Growing up, there were a few movies that I always watched when they were on TV, and one of those films was definitely The Parent Trap. Not the original version with Hayley Mills you see above though - I'm talking about the remake with Lindsay Lohan. That one movie that pretty much everyone in my generation saw at some point in their lives. 

I always liked the film, and I thought it was clever. For years I absolutely thought Lohan had a twin, and when I eventually realized that she was actually just one person playing both twins, I was astonished. I guess I knew that it was possible for her to play both roles and appear twice on the same screen at once as if there were two people actually standing there, but the execution still blew me away. I mean, I was also probably seven or eight at the time, but still! 

For years, I've been meaning to go back and watch the original film as well, but I never got around to it, even after getting a copy of my own on VHS from my Godfather this past summer. Still, I never had a chance to pop the tape into the VHS player and watch the movie. Well, as I finished up making scones this morning and started on blogging, I needed some background noise, and it just so happens that the original Parent Trap just appeared on Netflix. 

There's been some debate as to which film is truly better, especially among my friends who grew up watching both versions, but I must say that I personally don't know which I enjoyed more. Each is unique, even with the same plot line, and while perhaps I like the remake a bit more just because that's what I grew up with, there's a charm to the original that I never felt with the Lohan version. Hayley Mills just lights up the screen as both girls in the original, and it's hard not to root for them. It was strange to see an older version of a film I've come to know and love, and because I saw the remake first, it almost felt like going back in time, but the fact that the story still works so well for both time periods is astonishing. 

I guess to truly tell the difference though I'll have to grab some oreos and peanut butter and sit down to rewatch the Lohan version, right? 

Have a magical day!