My Lindsay Lohan obsession is well-documented. I cannot fully explain to you how important Parent Trap, Freaky Friday and Mean Girls have been to my life. I’m especially reminded of that in the past 8 days, as it was October 3rd last week (Mean Girls day) and now it’s October 11th (Parent Trap day). This has provided me with the perfect excuse to rewatch two of my favorite movies of all time. We recently sold the house I grew up in and I was heartbroken. We were in that house for 21 years and the house and that neighborhood are as much a part of my identity as anything else. My mom and I have bonded over the years through our shared love of movies. We’d always sit and watch a movie whenever both of us had time and we still love to watch them whenever we’re together. We have very specific traditions and go-tos, and on the last night in the house, my mom and I wanted to watch a movie. Not just any movie, but our favorite movie that we love to watch together. A movie that we’ve seen 100 times but never gets old. A great mother-daughter movie. So of course, we both wanted to watch The Parent Trap. It may be hard to explain to someone reading this how much this movie means to me but this article is the best way I know how. So to honor one of my favorite movies of all time, here are 120 of my favorite moments from The Parent Trap. I thought I went overboard on the Mean Girls article but I think this was next level…
Camp Walden
1. Starting the movie off with “L-O-V-E” by Nat King Cole. I cannot hear this song and not think immediately of Parent Trap and the QE2.
2. Hallie can’t get her yellow duffle bag out of the huge pile of suitcases, thereby showing her newbie-ness; she obviously should’ve known to leap for it faster before it got lost in the pile of luggage. Hallie and her new friend see this girl in a tie-dye t-shirt seamlessly remove her own duffle from the bottom of the gigantic pile. Knowing she needed help, they yell out “YO TIE-DYE GIRL.” My friends and I would yell this at each other to get the other’s attention. We still do this.
3. Annie gets out of the limo in the most quintessential British rich-girl outfit with pumps and goes over a checklist of items with her Butler. This immediately establishes the difference between her and Hallie – Hallie who was wearing jean shorts, a top, and had sunglasses casually sitting atop her head looking effortlessly California casual.
4. These are my kinds of girls because within SECONDS of meeting both Hallie and Annie, we’re told that they’re obsessed with gambling, specifically with poker. Hallie asks her friends if they’ve ever played and when they say no, she asks them how much cash they brought with them, implying that she was going to kick their asses and take all of their money. Martin gives Annie a “spanking new deck of cards, maybe you’ll actually find someone on this continent who can whip your tush at poker.” Annie immediately responds I doubt it. They are already setting us up for the epic poker battle to come.
5. THE HANDSHAKE. If you tell me you didn’t watch this scene and try to recreate the Annie / Martin handshake, then you’re probably not someone I want to be friends with. This is iconic – plus the music helps make the scene.
6. Annie and Hallie are in line at the lunch table and Marvus is in between them getting strawberries. Marvus turns to her right and asks Hallie if she wants strawberries, but she says she’s allergic. Marvus turns to her left and asks Annie if she wants strawberries, and she also says she’s allergic. Marvus (literally) can’t put two and two together and realize she wasn’t talking to the same person. It always made me think that she was not the brightest bulb, but it was funny to set the stage for more small similarities between the twins.
7. Maggie Wheeler, aka Janice from Friends, is one of the Camp Walden counselors. Realizing this when I got older and watched all of Friends my junior year of high school was very exciting. It still makes me smile.
8. Hallie is the currently undefeated Champion in the fencing matches at the camp. Maggie Wheeler asks around to see if anyone else wants to face off against Hallie, and Annie responds “I’ll take a whack at it.”
9. The dramatic fencing match. Annie yawning, pretending Hallie is no match for her. Annie somehow jumping up on the hay bails to catch the sword. Annie beating Hallie by pushing her into the water. Annie tries to help Hallie up. Hallie pulls Annie into the water. Immediate bad blood between the two.
10. Annie is crowned the new fencing champion. Maggie Wheeler forces them to shake hands. The collective “whoa” and “gasp” when they look at each other and realize they’re identical.
11. The spark when Annie and Hallie shake hands.
12. Hallie: “why is everyone staring?” Annie: “don’t you see it? The resemblance between us?” Hallie: “Resemblance? Between you and me? Let me see. Turn sideways. Now the other way. Well your eyes are much closer together than mine. Your ears… well don’t worry you’ll grow into them. Your teeth are a little crooked. Ugh and that nose. Don’t worry dear those things can be fixed.” SO MEAN. SO SAVAGE. When Annie grabs at her nose out of insecurity. Girls are vicious.
13. Hallie: “You want to know the real difference between us?” Annie: “Let me see. I know how to fence and you don’t? Or I have class and you don’t? Take. Your. Pick.” An equally savage clapback. I’d say the more popular line my friends and I would say is “Or I have class and you don’t?” I also like how Hallie’s response is “why I aughta”…
14. Maggie Wheeler is here witnessing this whole fight and finally decides to be a responsible adult and get them to stop shitting on each other. She tries to address them “Hallie, Annie, I mean, Annie, Hallie. I mean… Whoa.”
15. Now we’re introduced to the exact opposite scene. Instead of Hallie crushing everyone at fencing and requesting more takers, we see Annie crushing everyone in Poker and requesting and other takers. This time using an immediate callback to Annie’s response, Hallie responds “I’ll take a whack at it.”
16. Right after Hallie finishes saying “I’ll take a whack at it” the Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood and The Destroyers music cue starts. One of many great music cues in this movie – again, I can’t hear this song and not immediately be taken to this cabin at Camp Walden.
17. Hallie’s outfit during the Poker game. The shiny black bomber. The hair clip. The sunglasses.
18. The collection of stuff they’re betting: a bag of quarters, scrunchies, nail polish, lip gloss. Extremely valuable items at this age.
19. The bet: loser jumps into the lake after the game. Butt naked.
20. Annie’s response to the bet “excellent. Start unzipping, Parker. Straight. In Diamonds.” Hallie: “you’re good James, just not good enough. A royal flush, in your honor.” Hallie says this in a British accent to mock her and Annie’s face just falls. Another great moment in their already heated duels.
21. Annie follows through on the bet and jumps into the lake butt naked. Hallie steals her clothes while she’s in the water, leaving only her sneakers and runs away. As Annie so aptly puts it afterwards, “let the games begin.”
22. Now is when it gets really good. On their way back from a basketball activity, Hallie and her friends are looking forward to a nap. Only when they reach their cabin, all of their bedroom furniture is on the roof. This has haunted me for years: HOW IN THE WORLD DID THEY GET THAT UP THERE??? It literally would’ve been impossible for 4 girls to get multiple beds and dressers on the roof of the cabin. They would’ve needed a moving company. Also, how would none of the counselors have noticed?!?!?! A great prank, but just very impractical. A great touch is the UK flag with Annie’s shoes on it. The shoes were the only thing Hallie left after stealing all her clothes the night before.
23. Hallie triples the stakes. She and her friends sneak into Annie’s cabin. They pour syrup on the floor, hang string all around the cabin so it looks like a spider web and hang fake spiders from the ceiling, cover one girl in honey, cover another in shaving cream, make another girl’s hair stuck up green, and put water balloons on a ledge. Another time where I wonder where they got all these supplies. Also, how did Annie and her friends not wake up during this???? Anyways it’s so evil. I think the girl with the crazy green hair got the worst of it… or the girl covered in honey. Hallie and her friends watch and laugh from the windows. Annie thinks she avoided all the water balloons and then the gigantic one falls directly on her head.
24. After Annie and all her friends are screaming and being essentially traumatized she exclaims (about Hallie) “That girl is without a doubt the lowest, most awful creature that ever walked the planet.” Hallie listening from the window outside goes “thank you, thank you very much” in an Elvis impression. I always thought Hallie was so cool in that moment.
25. Marvus and Maggie Wheeler walk by Hallie and her friends watching the disaster in Annie’s cabin and they say “morning girls” and the girls respond “morning, Marvus… MARVUS?” Their sheer horror at realizing Marvus was potentially about to catch them is so relatable – that feeling of getting caught knowing you did something wrong always gives you a pit in your stomach.
26. “Surprise inspection! Attention! Navajo!!!” The way Marvus says Navajo always makes me laugh.
27. Hallie tries to prevent Marvus from entering Annie’s cabin by saying someone is sick, because she knows that the second Marvus opens the door, a giant vat of syrup was going to fall on her head. Annie notices this is why Hallie is preventing her from going in (that and the other 50 things wrong with the inside of Annie’s cabin at the moment) and encourages Marvus to come in to get Hallie in trouble. Great sabotaging; I love it.
28. Marvus, of course, opens the door and chaos ensues. The bucket of syrup falls on her and then Maggie Wheeler pushes Marvus in front of her (why she did this I’ll never know) and both Marvus and Maggie get covered in syrup and slide through the cabin. To regain balance, they pull on the fan, and feathers fall from it like snow, sticking to them and making them look like chickens.
29. The way Marvus spits out “YOU. AND YOU. PACK YOUR BAGS” while she’s covered in syrup and feathers.
30. The whole camp goes on a hike and stop when they reach a lone cabin deep in the woods called “the isolation cabin.” Maggie Wheeler’s epic dramatic circle point at the twins to go up to the cabin is everything. I still use that point when I need show someone something.
31. The light war. The last battle the twins have before becoming friends.
32. Hallie is hanging up all of her pictures when the wind blows super hard. Annie helps Hallie close the window and then gathers all her fallen stuff. Annie has never heard of Leonardo DiCaprio… literally how?!? This is their first bonding moment as they start to talk about where they’re from.
33. The purest bonding moment: they both eat Oreos with peanut butter. I do think this is disgusting. I’m anti-peanut butter but that’s for another article.
34. THE REASON WE’RE HERE TODAY: “How old are you?” “I’ll be 12 on October 11th.” “So will I!” “You’re birthday is on October 11th? How weird is that?” “Extremely”
35. As both of them talk about how they are both from single-parent households (Annie only has a mother, Hallie only has a father), Hallie keeps asking to go get food. Annie tells her “will you stop thinking about your stomach at a time like this?” I relate to Hallie in this situation – popsicles and lemonade are amazing summer time snacks.
36. I love how oblivious Hallie is not being able to connect the dots. Annie realizes they have too many similarities and begins to put it all together. Annie only has a mom, Hallie only has a dad, and they’re both born on October 11th.
37. The picture. “Right down the middle?” “Right down the middle.” Then they show their halves at the same time. The music swells and they realize finally that they have the same parents.
38. “So if your mom is my mom. And my dad is your dad. And we’re both born on October 11th. Then you and I are like sisters.” “Sisters? Hallie. We’re like twins.” My eyes may or may not get leaky every time they say this.
39. Hallie and Annie had “H” and “A” necklaces so when I was younger I demanded to get an “R” necklace in order match them. My mom gave me one for my birthday when I was 13 and I was thrilled.
40. “This is like mind-boggling” “totally” “completely” “Oh my god.” “Oh my god!” A great teenage exchange.
41. So heartwarming: they tape the two halves of the picture together and push their beds together to download on their parents. They both discuss how it’s odd that neither of their parents ever married again, not even coming close.
42. Evil genius Hallie proposes to switch places. Annie objects that they’re too different and someone would notice. This leads to the great moment where Hallie goes “Look, I can do you already. Want to know the difference between us? I have class and you don’t.” Glad we can already joke about that very mean moment that happened only a few days ago! This of course brings a smile to Annie’s (and my) face.
43. The realization that when the parents have to switch them back, they’ll have to meet face to face.
44. Let the training begin! We’re treated to one of my favorite scenes: the two of them teach each other about their lives and how to be each other. The scene is set to “Do You Believe in Magic?” by The Lovin’ Spoonfuls. My favorite part is when we see them on the dock during golden hour practicing the Martin handshake. Or when Annie is showing Hallie pictures of the family members and Hallie asks “He’s so cute. What do we call him?” (referring to their grandfather) and Annie exclaims “Grandfather!”
45. Hallie cuts Annie’s hair and is so nervous she closes her eyes. Annie: “Well don’t shut your eyes!!!” Hallie: “Sorry just got a little nervous!” Annie: “You’re nervous? An 11-year-old is cutting my hair” I wanted this hairstyle so badly when I was younger but I wasn’t allowed to get layers until I got to high school.
46. Hallie realizes she has pierced ears. Annie’s response: “no, no, no, and no. Not happening. Sorry, wrong number. I won’t. I refuse.” This was essentially my response to getting my ears pierced. I was the last of my friends to do it and I cried like a little baby when it finally happened.
47. I strongly believe that the ears-piercing scene from this movie is what swayed me from getting my ears pierced for so long. This scene haunts my nightmares. I would always go get ice from the kitchen during this scene and make extra loud noise getting the ice so I didn’t have to hear Annie’s scream. This is the first time I’ve seen this scene in years because even now I still skip through it. Can you believe they actually show the needle going through her ear?!?!? No wonder I was traumatized!!!
48. The double-crossed fingers, cross-chest good luck. I remember starting to do this when I was hoping for something good, just because they did.
Take Me to London & Napa
49. The handshake again in the airport. I love Martin so much.
50. The La’s “There She Goes” plays while Hallie rides through London. The first time I went to London I accompanied my mom on a business trip. I was around 12 just like Annie and Hallie and I played this song on my iPod while I rode through London with my head pressed against the window so I could pretend I was in the movie. I may or may have also done this as a 23 year old when I went to London for business myself this past June (wow full circle moment).
51. Every single time I watch this movie (often with my mom) and see Natasha Richardson run down the steps in slow motion to see Annie, my mom and I both sigh and gush over how beautiful she is, especially in this movie. My mom will then ask me if I think she can pull off that hair style – sorry mom, your hair is too thin! We then of course have to lament over the fact that she died too young and it’s devastating that a stupid ski accident could take away such an amazing woman. Poor Liam Neeson. Then my mom tells the story about how she met Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson in a restaurant once and they were very nice. Sorry, carrying on…
52. That London townhouse is to die for.
53. Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles plays as we get a montage of Hallie and her mom going through London and visiting her mom’s studio. The shot of them on Abbey Road. The stylish all-white outfit Natasha Richardson is wearing. This starts one of my favorite sequences of the movie. This scene and the next one.
54. My favorite scene of the movie: Never Let You Go by Jakaranda plays while Natasha helps style her client, model Vendela Kirsebom, for her wedding shoot. Watching her mom work, Hallie says “my mom is too cool.” My mom always nudges me at this part and asks me if I think shes’ cool – I tell her of course. Honestly, agreed. Natasha Richardson is working it in this scene. Hallie gets in the pictures and they’re all so cute.
55. Hallie tries to pry about her father and asks her mom “doesn’t designing all these wedding gowns ever make you think about the F word?” “The F word?” “My father” “oh, that F word.” This exchange always makes me laugh.
56. Annie gets off the plane wearing these ugly checked shorts that I had growing up. I have a very embarrassing picture of myself somewhere wearing this exact outfit.
57. We’re introduced to the forever extremely hot Dennis Quaid as Nick Parker. I think he wears jeans, a white tee and a brown jacket in every movie he’s in and he always rocks it. He’s such a classic American male.
58. Nick makes fun of Annie for not writing any letters after she begged him to buy her personalized stationery. This is in the running for most relatable moment in the movie – every single girl I know simply NEEDED personalized stationary when they went to camp and never used it.
59. “Lovely girl. Horrid habit. Did I send you to summer camp or finishing school?”
60. “Why do you keep saying Dad at the end of every sentence?” “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was doing it, Dad. Sorry, Dad. Do you want to know why I keep saying Dad? The truth? It’s because in my whole life, you know for the past eight weeks, I was never able to say the word Dad. Never, not once. And if you ask me, a dad is an irreplaceable person in a girl’s life. Think about it. There’s a whole day devoted to celebrating fathers. Just imagine someone’s life without a father. Never buying a father’s day card. Never sitting on their father’s lap. Never being able to say ‘hi, Dad’, or ‘what’s up, Dad?’ or ‘catch you later, dad.’ I mean a baby’s first words are always, ‘dada’, aren’t they?” This is always so sad but makes me appreciate my own Dad so I enjoy it.
61. Annie and Nick enter “Parker Knoll”, the Parker’s vineyard and we are treated to an incredible piece of real estate. The ivy, the view, the high ceilings, the natural light. Ugh, I need to go back to Napa yesterday.
62. We’re introduced to Chessy and automatically know she’s a real one. She offers Annie cornbread and chilli (Hallie’s favorite) which clearly doesn’t excite Annie. Then Sammy (the most adorable Golden Retriever) starts barking at Annie instead of nuzzling her. Chessy realizes immediately something is off but can’t put her finger on it. I love how she knows Hallie so well that she knows that something is off; even Nick knew based on the weird phrases. It always made me think either Hallie is that much better acting as Annie than Annie is as Hallie or Chessy and Nick know Hallie way better than Elizabeth and Martin knew Annie. We may never know.
63. Meredith. Blake. The publicist from San Francisco hired to do PR for the vineyard. Chessy comes in immediately with an amazing burn “if you ask me she’s doing a better job of selling herself than the grapes.”
64. “Your father’s not some kind of suave, debonair, bachelor-of-the-month type. So I gotta ask myself, what does a hot young thing like that see in a guy in a guy who has his shirt-tail hanging out and a bowl full of chili? Then I realize there’s about a million reasons why that girls giggling and they’re all sitting at the Napa Valley Community Bank.” Chessy essentially openly calls Meredith a gold digger and it’s amazing.
65. “Sorry, did I get you wet, Mer?” Calling her Mer off the bat is such a power move from Annie I love it.
66. Let the mind games begin. “You want the 411?” “What’s the 411?” “The information. The low-down on other women. Can’t blame you. I’d want to know if I was number 28, I mean 29, in a man’s life. It’s always the same routine. Horseback riding through the vineyards, romantic dinners with his special reserve label wine, moonlight swims.” Nick then comes back with a bottle of his special reserve label playing perfectly into Annie’s play. I always wanted to know how she knew what to say but I won’t question the magic.
67. Hallie using a candy wrapper to pretend there was static on the phone to ditch Annie. I tried to do this once and it didn’t work.
68. I love the way Annie and Hallie use the name “Mildred” as their fake friend. Very reminiscent of Regina Phalangee from Friends.
69. Chessy confronts Annie about the late call she made in her bathroom last night. Annie says she was calling her friend from camp who lives in New York. Chessy responds “oh, I see. So you wanted to wait and call Mildred at a time that was convenient for her because of the time difference. Uh huh, so you waited until 3 in the morning her time. That makes perfect sense.” “Actually it was 7 at night her time because she lives in New York but she was on vacation in Bora Bora.” “Good save.” I shall submit this as further evidence for my “Chessy is the smartest person in this movie” theory since she always calls Annie out on her bullshit.
70. “First change I make is to send that two-faced brat off to boarding school in Timbuktu.” “Ooh, ice woman.” “Proud of it babe.” The BEST exchange in this movie. Definitely the quote I’ve used the most in my life.
71. Chessy confronts Annie about how different she seems explaining “Sammy doesn’t come near you anymore. Your appetite has suddenly changed. You’re neat-as-a-pin and using expressions like ‘you gave me a fright?’ But if I didn’t know any better I’d say it’s almost like you were… Forget it. It’s impossible.” “Almost as if I were who, Chessy? Almost as if I were Annie?” “You know about Annie?” “I am Annie” Chessy starts crying and so do all of us watching.
72. “This is the way I’ve always looked at her for 11 years. Since the day she came home from the hospital. 6 pounds, 11 ounces, 21 inches long. This is the way I look at her.” I included this because I was 6 pounds, 11 ounces, 21 inches long when I came home from the hospital as a baby. Can you tell this movie is very personal to me??
73. Nick says he wants to make Meredith part of their family. Annie says it’s a dream come true since she’s always wanted a big sister. “You’re going to adopt Meredith. That is so sweet, Dad.” “I’m not going to adopt her. I’m going to marry her.” “Marry her? That’s insane. How can you marry a woman young enough to be my sister?” Annie then starts ranting in French. What an incredible originally passive-aggressive turn plain out aggressive burn on Meredith.
74. “Don’t look at me, I don’t know a thing.” – Chessy THE OG
75. The freaking bell. Meredith brings a bell to call Chessy to her. “Don’t you love it? It’s just what we need, it’s such a big house. CHESSY!” Ugh Meredith is such a bitch but what a flex. Chessy: “You rang?” “Two martinis please, and make Mr. Parker’s a double.” *Chessy stares down Nick essentially saying what the fuck is this bell with her eyes* Nick responds: “Chess, please. I’m getting a migraine.”
76. “Wear your shirt like this. I like it when I can see a little chest hair.” Meredith working her hoe-magic.
77. “Not to be jerky when you’re trying to be all mushy but I know what mystery my dad sees in you. You’re young and beautiful and sexy and hey, the man’s only human, but if you ask me, marriage is supposed to be based on something more than just sex, right?” “Boy. Your father underestimates you.” “But you won’t, will you Meredith?” “Being young and beautiful is not a crime you know. And for your 411 I adore your father. He’s exactly the kind of man I always planned on marrying. This is the real deal, honey, and nothing you do is going to come between us. Hate to break it to you angel, but you are no longer the only girl in Nick Parker’s life. Get over it.” “If this is the real deal, then my dad’s money has nothing to do with you wanting to marry him, right” “Okay puss you listen and you listen good. I am marrying your father in two weeks whether you like it or not. So I suggest you do not tangle with me anymore. You are in way over your head. Is that clear?” “Crystal.” GAME RESPECTS GAME.
78. “Well if you ask me, the bouquet is a little too robust for a Merlot, but then again I’m partial to the softer California grape.” This is how i’ve described every Merlot I’ve ever tasted. I make myself laugh every time.
79. Hallie hides under the blankets and Elizabeth says “Annie. Annie.” “That’s where I have to go I have to go see Annie.” “And where might Annie be?” “In Napa with her father Nick Parker.” “You’re not Annie. You’re Hallie?” “I just hope one day you can love me as me and not as Annie” “I’ve loved you your whole life” Such a beautiful moment. We are all Martin sobbing outside.
80. My mom’s favorite moment: Natasha Richardson emerges out of her closet with a rolling pin in her hair, sunglasses on inside and a cigarette in her hand exclaiming “I’m not mature enough for this. I mean look at me Martin, have you ever seen me like this? Don’t answer that. I mean, what if he doesn’t recognize me? Don’t answer that either.” Such a mood.
81. “He was rather dishy.” I always wish I was British so I could use that term and sound as effortlessly cool as Natasha Richardson does in that moment.
82. “If I was seeing my ex after 11 years and I had your legs, I’d wear this little baby. You’ll kill in it” I frequently ask my roommate if I should wear “this little baby” in reference to one of my own little black dresses.
Everyone Meets at the Stafford Hotel
83. I know my mother would like me to point out that there is no Stafford Hotel on the water in San Francisco. It’s in L.A.
84. Sammy barks at Meredith. “Good doggy” – Chessy.
85. “Hello, pet. You may call me Aunt Vickie.” Another top quote from this movie.
86. “Would you believe I’ve never tasted vodka before this trip?” “Could’ve fooled me, ma’am.” One I love Martin for obviously lying here and two how is it humanly possible to be a 40 year old adult without ever tasting vodka before?!?
87. In the Mood by Glen Miller plays as all parties arrive at the hotel. The song and scene culminates as Elizabeth sees Nick and Meredith making out in the elevator. Nick sees her too and leans against the elevator to look at her until the doors completely close.
88. “SAMMY!” Goldens are the best doggos it’s not a contest sorry.
89. “Hallie Parker!” *both girls exit their rooms* “Don’t do this to me, I’m already seeing double.”
90. *sees Martin in a speedo and gasps* “Martin! What are you doing?” “Going for a dip, madam, do you mind?”
91. Martin and Chessy automatically are attracted to each other. “The pleasure’s all mine, monsieur”
92. Martin and Chessy fumbling over themselves when Elizabeth asks if they knew about the girls’ plot to get Elizabeth and Nick back together.
93. When Hallie meets Meredith for the first time. “Have you seen your father?” “You talkin’ to me?” “What are you, Robert De Niro? Yes I am talking to you.” “Oh, Meredith.” “What are you staring at?” “Oh nothing, nothing. You’re just very pretty, that’s all.” “Oh, don’t tell me you’re going to break your rotten streak and suddenly be nice to me?”
94. Meredith and Elizabeth meet at the bar as Elizabeth is super hungover not knowing who each other are. “You’re Elizabeth James?” “Guilty.”
95. Meredith thinks she’s introducing Elizabeth and Nick before they tell her they were married and have twins.“This is one small world.” “How small?” “Did I ever mention to you that Hallie was a twin?” “No, you seemed to leave out that little detail.” The double screams Meredith lets out when she sees both twins is always hilarious. “By the way, I’m the real Hallie. This is Annie. She was pretending to be me while I was pretending to be her. And this is our mother. Elizabeth James.” “This is your mother? You were married to him?” “Guilty again.” “Oh well, this is a small world.” “And getting smaller.” “And what a coincidence that we’re all here on the same weekend. My, my, my. How sweet.” The pain in Meredith’s voice is so clear. She’s such a great villain.
96. I always liked to think I was cool enough to wear Hallie’s outfit on the QE2 but really I would be wearing Annie’s dress.
97. I Love You For Sentimental Reasons by Linda Ronstadt plays on the QE2 to set the mood for Nick and Elizabeth. “Just relax. Sail through time. Back to yesteryear.”
98. Hallie and Annie popping up in the windows to stare at their parents. “Now I know how a goldfish feels.”
99. “If we’re ever really alone, maybe we could talk about what happened between us. It all feels a bit hazy to me. It ended so fast.” “It started so fast.” “Well that part I remember perfectly.” SWOON.
100. They’re trying to figure out what to do with the kids. Chessy keeps interjecting and it makes me laugh.
101. She threw a hairdryer at him on the day she left him. Iconic shit from Elizabeth James as always.
102. “So about that day you packed. Why’d you do it?” “Oh, Nick. We were so young and we both had tempers. We said stupid things and so I packed, got on my very first 747. And you didn’t come after me.” “I didn’t know you wanted me to.” That part breaks my heart every time.
The Camping Trip
103. Full disclosure: I would be the Meredith on this camping trip. “I can’t believe people actually do this for fun” – Meredith and also me.
104. Annie putting rocks in Meredith’s backpack to make it heavier and to make her more miserable.
105. Annie putting a gecko on Meredith’s Evian bottle, freaking her out. I would also have reacted by screaming and freaking out.
106. Annie putting the gecko on Meredith’s head.
107. Nick: “The two of you help Meredith.” Meredith: “Sure you’ll help me. Right over a cliff you’ll help me.” Hallie: “Not a bad idea.” Annie: “Yeah, see any cliffs?” So mean but so funny.
108. Annie: “Need a hand Mer?” Meredith: “Not from you I don’t. Don’t think I can’t see right past those angelic faces. One more trick from you and I promise I will make your lives miserable from the day I say ‘I do’”.
109. Meredith realizing the gecko is on her head and screaming while it crawls in her mouth. I would be FREAKING out. I do not judge her for being livid at them – the little devils.
110. Annie and Hallie replace her mosquito spray with sugar and water so more mosquitoes attack her.
111. “That is it. I am taking one large sleeping pill and going to bed.” Relatable. I’m nervous this is becoming a pro-Meredith post due to my hatred of camping – I just relate to her too much.
112. Meredith clapping the sticks together to ward off the “mountain lions” that don’t exist. My friends and I still do this to this day.
113. Meredith waking up with a bird pecking her neck and thinking it’s Nick then realizing that she’s in the middle of the lake, falling in.
114. Meredith storming back onto shore. “Get the picture? It’s me or them. Take your pick.” “Them. T-H-E-M. Them. Get the picture?” SEE YA CRUELLA.
115. Dennis Quaid trying to do a British accent “who would’ve thought? My nanny, your butler” He sounds so terrible (on purpose) but it’s so cute.
The Parent Trap Worked
116. When Nick pulls out the bottle they drank at their wedding from his special bottles cabinet. “I now have every bottle ever made.” “You do?” “I do.” “Can we open one?” “You’re the only one I’d drink it with.” THEN THEY ALMOST KISS AND STUPID CHESSY AND MARTIN COME BACK.
117. When Elizabeth steps away from Nick back into the light and she’s crying and he’s heartbroken he feels like he lost his chance again.
118. Annie and Elizabeth arrive back in London. They go into the study to check for Grandfather and find Hallie. “It took us around 30 seconds after you guys left to realize we didn’t want to lose you again.” “We?” “We.” When Nick steps out and says “we” is the moment I start tearing up. From that “we” until Hallie slides down in the corner saying we did it I’m pretty much sobbing.
119. “I made the mistake of not coming after you once before, Lizzie. I’m not gonna do that again no matter how brave you are.” “And I suppose you just expect me to go week at the knees and fall into your arms and cry hysterically and say we’ll just figure this out, a bi-continental relationship, with our daughters being raised here and there and… and you and I just picking up where we left off and growing old together… and… c’mon Nick what do you expect? To live happily ever after?” “Yes to all of the above. Except you don’t have to cry hysterically.” “Oh yes I do.” Then they kiss and I always do what Annie does *put my arms to my heart and smile* it’s so beautiful. Hallie’s “we actually did it” and then slides down into the corner of the room is a vibe.
120. I love the wedding picture credits. Natasha and Dennis look SO good together that I wanted them to be together in real life.
OKAY. So I went *extremely* overboard. I’m sorry if I just basically wrote down the whole script but I love this movie so much. It’s hard to believe how incredible Lindsay Lohan is in this movie. She expertly plays both girls and gives them their own personalities enough that you think you can tell the difference between the two, even though they’re obviously the same person. I just enjoy the movie from beginning to end. From Camp Walden, to Napa and London, to the Meet at the Hotel, to the Camping Trip, to the final scenes of them getting back together. A perfect 5 sectioned movie with hardly any faults. The cast, the soundtrack, the score. I’ll always love this movie because it’s so personal to me and my mom and I’m happy to celebrate it on unofficial official “Parent Trap” day.
