fandomhigh | It's Actually Not That Complicated; Tuesday, Second Period, 09/27.

"Well," said Rosa as she got the class started for the day, "we're finally stepping into Nancy Meyers' position as director in the films we'll be looking at, starting with her 1998 directorial debut with ~~meta for~~ The Parent Trap, which was also a pretty big film debut for actress Lindsay Lohan, playing two twins separated in their youth in their parents' big divorce, who meet at a summer camp and decided to get their parents back together, against all odds. It's a remake of a 1961 film of the same name, based on a 1949 German novel. So it's a remake of an adaptation, but with Meyers and Shyer behind revamping and updating the source material in their own particular way and Nancy finally getting a shot in the director's chair, what you end up with is a classic, charming little family-fun comedy for the ages.

"For some more familiar with her later work, this movie might feel like an odd choice for a directorial debut, but I'd argue it makes a lot of sense looking at Meyers' career up to this point, and even afterwards. The crux of the plot is a romance-driven one, but not really. There's the rom-com elements, but it's driven by the sisters and their bond and working together, and the romantic elements are just the result of that; the romance isn't necessarily the main thing. And that's where Meyers also improves on the original, in developing her main characters more. And even though its more focused on the kids, we still get her classic interiors in their respective homes: a Napa Valley vineyard and a London townhome.

"Anyway," Rosa shrugged slightly, "there isn't too much to say about this one. It was an important stepping stone into directing for Meyers--there's a rumor that she was asked to direct ~~meta for~~ The First Wives Club in 1996, which seems to have all the marks of a Meyers film in her later filmography, including staring Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, who inspired the casting of Lohan in this film because Meyers was looking for a 'young Diane Keaton'--but she apparently turned it down and doesn't even remember turning it down. She was actually set to make her directing debut with some Hugh Grant movie, but he backed out like an idiot, Meyers was pretty devastated by it, but she and her company working with Disney had just rewritten this script, and so she just directed this instead. So let's watch it, and we'll see if we can start picking out certain...Nancy-isms or just talk about what we liked or didn't like. I don't know."

All she knew is that she already had that stupid song from the original movie stuck in her head and she didn't even watch it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Like you and your long lost twin are going to try to hook your parents back up together.

Belle

Identical twins Annie and Hallie, separated at birth and each raised by one of their biological parents, discover each other for the first time at summer camp and make a plan to bring their wayward parents back together.

So....what works in this one? What doesn't? Is it a strong directorial debut or is there some room for improvement? Does the plot seem entirely like some bullshit you'd stumble on in a place like Fandom, rather than 'the real world'? What about it being more of a family fare kind of movie? Is anyone going to earn bonus points for comparing it spiritual plot opposite Irreconcilable Differences, even though Rosa hasn't mentioned it? Because you would definitely get bonus points for bringing that up.

The floor is open. Try and make it seem like you're actually learning something about movies and filmmaking here instead of just an excuse to watch Nancy Meyers movies.

"I'm not sure I believe parents would be so cruel as to separate a pair of twins like that," Belle said. "I would hope not."

Belle, of course, did not yet know that her father would rather make her forget every detail of her own life rather than allow her to be in love with a murderous older man with mysterious powers.

"Well, they were babies at the time," Rosa pointed out, ever the pragmatist. "I don't think they really noticed."

"But they never even knew about each other! That's horrid."

"Sounds to me like their parents really should have researched that summer camp a little better, then," said Rosa.

"How would you have handled the situation?"

"Yes, their parents ought to have done. And I wouldn't have kept a child from its twin or its other parent like that. Surely they could have worked something out."

Belle also didn't know her future self might make horrible deals to keep her unborn child from its father. Belle didn't know so much!

If anyone is brave enough to ask...

...yes, she does know the handshake perfectly, thank you.

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