The Parent Trap (1998)

Lil’ Lindsay Lohan is remarkable in her double (sometimes even quadruple) role and definitely carries the film; with the help of some seamless editing, you never feel like it’s not actually two actors (the discovery in the cabin is a marvel of a scene). All of the plot holes and contrivances make it feel like it was written by an 11-year old too, but that’s not all bad (who doesn’t enjoy pranking villains and reuniting families?) and there’s some fun dramatic irony in acts two and three as well.

5

Mean Girls (2004)

Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George. (IMDb)

The plot is conventional and a little unsatisfying and unrealistic near the end (see Cady taking all the blame, then making everything okay with one speech) but a lively script populated by plenty of memorable one-liners (“Is butter a carb?”), quirky side characters (see weary Mr. Duvall, gangsta math geek Kevin), and funny unconventional asides (see the teens like animals bits) entertains, and the epilogue is touching (“All you can do in life is try to solve the problem in front of you”).

7/10 (Good)