It Takes Two parents guide

It Takes Two Parent Guide

Overall B

Mary-Kate Olsen is Amanda Lemmon, an orphaned child about to be adopted into an evil family that collects children so they can provide cheap labor in the family junk yard.

Release date November 17, 1995

Violence B+
Sexual Content A-
Profanity B+
Substance Use --

Why is It Takes Two rated PG? The MPAA rated It Takes Two PG for some mild language and innuendo.

Run Time: 101 minutes

Parent Movie Review

The Olsen twins are at it again, this time in a very loose adaptation of Twain’s The Prince And The Pauper. Each twin plays a child in distress. Mary-Kate Olsen is Amanda Lemmon, an orphaned child about to be adopted into an evil family that collects children so they can provide cheap labor in the family junk yard. Ashley Olsen plays Alyssa Callaway, a rich child whose mother died, and now her father, Roger Callaway (Steve Guttenberg) is about to marry Clarice Kensington (Jane Sibbett), a wolf in mink’s clothing. The first order in Clarice’s new marriage is to send lovely little Alyssa off to boarding school for the rest of her days.

The writer’s first job is to get these two girls together and make the classic switch-a-roo. Then they can come to the conclusion that Alyssa’s dad should marry Amanda’s social worker, Diane Barrows (Kristie Alley). The rest of the movie involves getting these two together, which is quite easy, as the Callaways live across the lake from a summer camp that he started in memory of his late wife. And by now you know what little girl is attending this camp.

For adults, the best enjoyment in this movie may be viewing it with your children. Most big people are going to be ahead of the plot, and after a while you feel like you are cheering a race from the finish line. You know the path the characters are going to take and you know where they will end up.

It Takes Two doesn’t miss any predictable moments. I haven’t seen a camp movie yet without a food fight, and this one didn’t let me down. 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.

Starring Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Kirstie Alley, Steve Guttenberg. Running time: 101 minutes. Theatrical release November 17, 1995. Updated