The Parent Trap II (1986)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

"The Parent Trap II," might loosely be considered a sequel to the 1961 Walt Disney smash hit, "The Parent Trap." The story is different and the cast is mostly changed. The only thing that ties it to the original is Hayley Mills who now plays grown-up twins around their mid-30s. Sharon Ferris is a single-parent mother raising her daughter, Nikki (played by Carrie Kei Heim). They live in the Tampa Bay area but Sharon plans to move to New York City for a new job. Nikki is about 10 years old and has a best friend, Mary Grand (played by Bridgette Andersen). Mary's dad, Bill (played by Tom Skerritt) is a single parent. The girls are distraught over the thought of being split up with Nikki's move, so they devise a plan to try to get their parents together and married. Hayley's twin sister now comes into the picture. Nikki's Aunt Susan Carey lives in California. By stretching one's imagination to include the far- fetched or unbelievable, one will accept the plot in which Nikki convinces her Aunt Susan to help set up the match. All she has to do is fly from California to Florida (while her husband is off flying commercial jetliners), remain incognito from her own sister, and impersonate her sister for one or two encounters and dates with Bill. This, of course, is to make him think she is Sharon, Nikki's mom.OK, so we viewers can accept that as necessary for such a wacky story in the first place. The film has some instances of good humor. The two young girls are the best part of the movie. But, in their conniving and plotting, we see some dishonesty and other character flaws that I don't think many parents want to encourage or condone in their children. However cute they may be. But overall, this film isn't very good. The idea had possibility but the plot seems to have holes and the screenplay is poorly done. It lacks a thread of energy and continuity. It comes across as a bunch of small vignettes pieced together to make the story. And the acting of the adults is sub-par to a person. Again, it could be due to a weak script and/or poor direction. There are times when Skerritt's character has long pauses and doesn't seem to know what to say next. Mills, in both characters, seems hesitant at times and wooden at other times. The story is a little interesting and had some possibilities – although far-fetched. The acting by the two young girls is good, and their scheming is OK (except for that character building aspect). But otherwise, this film doesn't cut it. If this is a typical example of Hayley Mills' later career and acting, I can see why her movie career tanked by the time she was 30. She was 40 years old when this TV film was made. I would imagine Tom Skerritt would just as soon forget that he made this film.

Wow.This film.What can I say? Disney has become infamous in the last decade for producing cheap sequels to their beloved animated classics. However, from 1986-1989, they produced a slew of three forgettable, low-budget, made-for-television sequels to their 1961 classic, The Parent Trap.The Parent Trap is an amazing film. I grew up with it, for God's sake. Picking it up for $9.99 at Circuit City was a steal-- I barely remembered Parent Trap II (having seen it a few times on Disney Channel as a kid in the nineties), but nonetheless braced myself for the worst when I popped it in to the DVD player (it comes on Disc 1 of the set). My expectations were not unfounded.The characters, plot, cinematography and dialogue are duds. Mary's father is cited as "gorgeous," but he looks like a creepy pedophile. His maid, Florence, is a cheap imitation of the beloved Verbena from the original, uttering "I don't say a word" twice. Other supporting characters are just as forgettable. That annoying girl in summer school has a BRONX accent and they're in Florida, for God's sake. And I was not surprised to see that the guy who wrote this "teleplay" never got work again. His characters are SO utterly exaggerated and unbelievable as human beings: eleven year olds CONSTANTLY going on about "cute" boys? Don't think so. Not to mention the fact that this film doesn't tie in with the first AT ALL. The scheme Mary and Nikki "cook up" is uninspired. Susan is introduced doing some "yoga" in the beginning. As Mary would say: "Yikes." The montage at the beginning of scenes from the original is just out-of-place and unnecessary. Also, watch out for the clear rip-off of the original's ending!Hayley Mills. Hayley Mills. What were you thinking? Her talents have greatly diminished in the thirty-five year gap between Parent Trap I and II. She overreacts and her inflections are enough to make me wanna toss my cookies all over the floor. Katherine Fei Heim is utterly talentless. She reminds me of Pippi Longstocking and I wish she'd march back to Villa Vilekula where she belongs! She is a horrid actress and when she screams "YAHOO!" I want to wring her neck...Parent Trap II is basically four episodes of any cheesy sitcom from the '80s spliced together. Nearly half as long as the original at eighty minutes, its plot makes viewing seem to last for eons. Thank God Parent Trap III and IV have faded away into oblivion. The fourth is titled "Hawaiin Honeymoon." Need I say more?

Talk about a bad sequel. Don't see this film-then again you probably can't. It was a made for TV film, and I have only seen it aired late at night on the Disney channel since. Bad script...bad acting... bad movie... stay with the original. 1/5 stars--JOHN ULMER

Some pretty outrageous events took place in this movie! First, Nicki Ferris and Mary Grand meet and become friends. Nicki's mom, Sharon Ferris, announces they are moveing to New York, Nicki doesn't want to go, so she and Mary put their heads together and come up with some ideas that are out of this world! (Why couldn't I think of something like that?) She gets her Aunt Susan Cary involved and she actually agrees to help! No grown up, especially a married one, would agree to impersonate someone and date a man she doesn't know. This is just too funny!