It Takes Two (1995)

Alyssa and Amanda are two little girls who are identical, but complete strangers, that accidentally meet one day.

Director:

Andy Tennant

Writer:

Deborah Dean Davis

Stars:

Kirstie Alley, Steve Guttenberg, Mary-Kate Olsen

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirstie Alley	...	Diane Barrows
Steve Guttenberg	...	Roger Callaway
Mary-Kate Olsen	...	Amanda Lemmon / Alyssa Callaway
Ashley Olsen	...	Alyssa Callaway / Amanda Lemmon
Philip Bosco	...	Vincenzo
Jane Sibbett	...	Clarice Kensington
Michelle Grisom	...	Carmen
Desmond Robertson	...	Frankie
Tiny Mills	...	Tiny
Shanelle Henry	...	Patty
Anthony Aiello	...	Anthony
LaTonya Borsay	...	Wanda
Michèle Lonsdale Smith	...	Michelle (as Michelle Lonsdale-Smith)
Sean Orr	...	Jerry
Elizabeth Walsh	...	Emily

Storyline

Alyssa (a rich girl) and Amanda (an orphan) are two little girls who are identical, but complete strangers, that accidentally meet one day. In an attempt to stop Alyssa's father from marrying Clarice, a conceited know-it-all, the girls get him to meet Amanda's case worker and switch places to stop the wedding once and for all. Though things don't go exactly as planned when Alyssa gets adopted and Clarice moves up the wedding.

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Plot Keywords:

mistaken identity | identity swapping | nylon stockings | child plays matchmaker | embarrassment | 

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Taglines:

When it comes to making the perfect match...Two heads are better than one! Especially if they look exactly alike.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 November 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Me and My Shadow

Filming Locations:

St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church "St. Bart's"- 325 Park Avenue, Park Avenue at 51st Street, Midtown, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$19,474,589

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dualstar Productions, Orr & Cruickshank, Rysher Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was titled after the song "It Takes Two" by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston which was also featured in the closing credits.

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Goofs

At the scrap heap, Alyssa is wearing a ball cap, then not wearing it, then wearing it again.

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Quotes

Roger Callaway: Vincenzo, did you ever hit a home run?
Vincenzo: Not recently.
Roger Callaway: You know the feeling when it's the bottom of the ninth, the bases are loaded, and you know the next one's coming right down the middle. And then, you just connect... and for an instant, you know that it's going over the fence and out of the park... and further than you could ever imagine.
Vincenzo: Yeah, that's a great feeling.
Roger Callaway: Yeah.
[pauses, closes wedding ring box]
Roger Callaway: Clarice hates baseball.

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Connections

References Forrest Gump (1994)

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Soundtracks

Twilight Zone Theme
Written by Marius Constant

User Reviews

So primitive, yet so perfect.

I watched "It Takes Two" twice and I would watch it another time I guess, but I don't think I would ever tape it. It's just not good enough. But it works perfectly. The movie centers at two cute and smart little girls, who are put in different dresses, different places, different environments and different situations in order to create this common changing-your-identities-humour, this time involving children.

We also have a stereotypical villainess, played by Jane Sibbett, exactly this stepmother-in-spe from every child's nightmare. We've seen these characters plenty of times, but who cares, it's the character we want to see here. Another common device is to have one really good actor in a supporting role, why not in the role of a butler? Here we have Philip Bosco, doing all the things expected from the nice butler, doing a fine job. A good thing is that the movie also focuses on the Kirstie Alley character. Kirstie Alley is exactly the right actress to play a cool, slightly crazy and likeable female lead in harmless family entertainment.

The point is that the movie uses the same humour, romance and conflict as usual, but skillfully enough, so it doesn't seem like copying. And that the two little girls are so smart that they manage to solve the conflict and get to that happy ending they want. That's what some people want to see and it has often been made much worse. The Olsen twins are alright here, we don't need the best child actresses you can possibly find in a movie like that. Cute, sympathetic and funny as they still are and as the movie just is, my rating is 8 (7,6?) out of 10.