Themes: Twins and Lookalikes, Mischievous Children
Main Cast: Kirstie Alley, Steve Guttenberg, Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Philip Bosco
Release Year: 1995
Country: US
Run Time: 101 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Identical twin 9-year-old girls, one a poor orphan, the other a rich heiress, cause confusion when they decide to meddle in their caretakers' love lives in this family-oriented comedy. Amanda (Mary Kate Olsen) is the orphan, a scrappy young girl with no family, relying on the support of her caring social worker, Diane (Kirstie Alley). When Diane brings Amanda to a summer camp, she first encounters Alyssa (Ashley Olsen), the wealthy daughter of the camp's sponsor, Roger Callaway (Steve Guttenberg). The girls immediately bond and decide to switch places for the fun of it. They soon conclude that their lives would be improved if Roger and Diane were to get together and form a family, and they set out to bring the adults together. More jaded, older viewers may be put off by the film's saccharine tone and derivative, Parent Trap-like narrative, but the inoffensive humor and the presence of popular TV stars the Olsen Twins should appeal to family audiences. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Two unrelated young girls happen to look identical and they suddenly meet. Amanda Lemmon (Mary-Kate Olsen) is an orphan, and about to be adopted by a family whom she doesn't like, The Butkises. She actually wants her child-loving case worker Diane Barrows (Kirstie Alley) to adopt her instead. Diane would like the same thing but authorities will not let her, due to her low salary. Alyssa Callaway (Ashley Olsen) is coming home from her boarding school's piano recital competition, only to find that her wealthy father Roger (Steve Guttenberg) is about to marry Clarice Kensington (Jane Sibbett) a socialite who (secretly) hates kids and baseball (which Roger adores). The girls switch roles and find out that Diane and Roger would fit together perfectly. So they arrange "chance" meetings with the desired result: They fall in love with each other. After some turbulences, Alyssa who poses as Amanda ends up being adopted by the Butkises. She and Diane (while looking for Alyssa) find out the only reason The Butkises have adopted many and any children they could is to work in their salvage yard. When Clarice secretly spies on Roger and Diane, she decides to move up the wedding from the next month to the next day. After Amanda, who poses as Alyssa, proves to Vincenzo who she really is at the church, he summons to have a the real Alyssa picked up from the Butkises' salvage yard and to stall the wedding. Once Diane and Alyssa end up at the church, Roger stops the wedding and tells Clarice that he fell in love with Diane. Furious, Clarice slaps Roger and prepares to do the same to both Amanda and Alyssa but is stopped by both Diane and Vincenzo. Clarice storms out of the church shouting, "I've never been so humiliated in my life!" Alyssa replies, "Wanna bet?" stepping on Clarice's wedding gown, ripping it and revealing Clarice's underwear, with Clarice running out in embarrassment. Roger and Diane both find out in the end that it was Amanda and Alyssa that arranged all the meetings between the two of them the entire time.
Cast and character bios
Amanda Lemmon (Mary-Kate Olsen) is a tomboyish orphan girl. She loves to play baseball and is just as good at it as any boy. She wants to be adopted by her social case worker Diane, but the government won't allow it because of Diane's low salary. Amanda switches lives with Alyssa Callaway and she realizes that she likes having a dad. She had to go to an engagement party and wedding (as the flower girl) for Roger and Clarice because they thought she was Alyssa.
Alyssa Callaway (Ashley Olsen) is a rich girl and the daughter of Roger Callaway, the owner of the camp for the orphans. Alyssa is a very cultured young lady and won first prize in a piano recital competition and is an equestrian. Alyssa doesn't want her father to marry the wrong woman, Clarice Kensington, instead she wants her father to marry Diane. Alyssa switches places with Amanda and has to attend the orphan camp, Camp Callaway, that her father owns (also thought of by her late mother) because Diane didn't think that she could be anybody except Amanda.
Roger Callaway (Steve Guttenberg) is a very wealthy widower. He owns Camp Calloway and is residing in a vacation house across the lake from the camp. He spoils his daughter and tries hard to make her happy. He realizes that he doesn't love Clarice when he falls for the girls' plan and meets Diane. He rejects Clarice at the altar.
Diane Barrows (Kirstie Alley) takes care of the orphans. She especially loves Amanda and wants to adopt her. She gets mad when she finds out that another crazy family (particularly the Butkises) is able to adopt her. She wants to find love and when she meets Roger she knows that he is "the one." She finally gets her man at the end of the movie when she shows up at the wedding.
Clarice Kensington (Jane Sibbett) is a socialite and a gold digger, the opposite of Diane. She hates kids and baseball and only wants to marry Roger for his money. She is very rude to people, especially Vincenzo. She is two-faced between Alyssa and Roger: when she is around Roger and Alyssa together, she is nice to both of them; however, when she is around Alyssa, alone, she is mean to her, and threatens to send her to year-round Tibetan boarding school after the wedding. During the wedding, she literally runs down the aisle and tries to speed up the ceremony to marry Roger so Diane can't have him. Despite this, after she is rejected by Roger, she tries to hit the girls, but is stopped by Vincenzo, and then Diane. Furious, she storms out of the cathedral only to have her dress ripped, revealing her panties.
Vincenzo (Philip Bosco) is Roger's butler, best friend, and right-hand man. He is like a second father to Alyssa and knows everything about her, such that Amanda needs to show him the scars on her neck from a roman candle accident to prove to him she is not Alyssa.
Harry (Ernie Grunwald) & Fanny Butkis (Ellen-Ray Henessy) are the couple that end up adopting Alyssa (posing as Amanda) on the day of Roger & Clarice's wedding. The Butkises are known for adopting (or rather collecting) many children and any kind of children they can get. The real reason behind that is to have them work in their salvage yard. They changed Alyssa's name to Betty Butkis, as they have with their adopted children. They also have a natural child of their own: Harry Butkis, Jr. (Dov Tiefenbach). Both Harry Butkis Sr., Junior and the adopted Butkis kids don't believe Alyssa when she tried telling them that she was not Amanda, until her father's private helicopter comes and picks her up from the salvage yard.
Awards and nominations
Won - Nickelodeon Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actress (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen)
Nominated - Nickelodeon Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actress (Kirstie Alley)
Nominated - Young Artist Award for Best Performance by an Actress Under Ten (Ashley Olsen)
Nominated - Young Artist Award for Best Performance by an Actress Under Ten (Mary-Kate Olsen)
Movie reviews
Anyone the age of Amanda and Alyssa will be able to figure out instantly that after the two girls cross paths, have fun and adventure exchanging lives, that they're going to play cupid. -Kevin Thomas (Los Angeles Times)
Luckily, they're quite engaging: Kirstie Alley continues to be the robust girl next door with the big smile, Steve Guttenberg is likable in the Donald O'Connor role, and the Olsen twins, from TV's "Full House," play the two look-alikes - which is a relief, since it's always such a distraction when one actor plays a dual role and you have to spend the whole movie trying to spot the trick photography. -Roger Ebert
It Takes Two doesn't miss any predictable modown. But us adults need to remember that children often like predictable movies, probably because they haven't sat through as many films as we have, and they can sense a happy ending. With only a couple of bad words and a bit of child intimidation from the bad guys, this movie will deliver some entertaining moments to your children. -Parent Previews
