It Takes Two (1995 film)

Infobox Film
name = It Takes Two


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Andy Tennant
producer = Mel Efros
Keith Samples
writer = Deborah Dean Davis
starring = Mary-Kate Olsen
Ashley Olsen
Steve Guttenberg
Kirstie Alley
music =
cinematography = Kenneth D. Zunder
editing = Roger Bondelli
distributor = - USA -
Warner Bros.
- non-USA -
Rysher Entertainment
released = November 17, 1995
runtime = 101 min
country = United States
awards = see Awards
language = English
budget =
preceded_by = How the West Was Fun
followed_by = Billboard Dad
amg_id = 1:135624
imdb_id = 113442

"It Takes Two" was a 1995 film starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The movie title was taken from the song "It Takes Two", sung by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston. The song was featured prominently in the movie. It is based on the book "Lottie and Lisa".

This film was rated PG by the MPAA for "some mild language".

Plot

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 threatening to send her to year-round boarding school after the marriage. 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. After she is rejected by Roger she tries to hit the girls, but she is stopped by Diane and Vincenzo. Furious, she storms out of the cathedral only to have her dress pulled down revealing her underwear.
*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. They 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 biological child of their own: Harry Butkis, Jr. (Dov Tiefenbach). Both Harry Butkis Senior, 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

External links

*imdb title|id=0113442|title=It Takes Two