Parent Trap III (TV Movie 1989) Poster

(1989 TV Movie)

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5/10
Parent Trap III
BandSAboutMovies12 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Three years later and it's time for more entrapment of parents.

Jeffrey Wyatt (Barry Bostwick) is the widowed father of identical triplet teenage girls - Lisa, Jessie, and Megan (Leanna, Monica and Joy Creel) - and after getting them off his hands all summer, he has to tell them that he's now engaged to Cassie McGuire (Patricia Richardson), who is redesigning their family home with the help of Susan Evers (Hayley Mills), who has already divorced Brian Carey from the last film.

The girls have some drama too, as Lisa is dating two boys, David (Chris Gartin) and Hawk (Jon Pennell), and gets the help of her sister Jessie, who ends up having to sing Janet Jackson karaoke. Well, Lisa and her sister get in trouble and she responds by letting her dad know how much she hates Cassie. Susan then tells the girls that she did the same games with her sister when she was young.

You know what? They still play those games and this is one of those movies where the leads break up a marriage at the altar. Or before. At the storage shed, I guess.

Mills said that she would never do another sequel and here we are, after Good Morning, Miss Bliss became Saved By the Bell and she didn't just make this one, she made the sequel, which was also directed by Mollie Miller. This was written by Deborah Amelon (who wrote Exit to Eden) and Jill Donner, who wrote Voyager from the Unknown and seven episodes of the series that would come from it, Voyagers!
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6/10
Nearer to the low level that you'd expect
r96sk2 July 2020
Although still not terrible, this 'The Parent Trap' sequel is nearer to the low level that you'd expect.

'Parent Trap III' begins to show the repetitive nature on the premise, as the film is quite boring throughout given we've already seen a similar concept in the previous two productions. This one attempts to mix things up by having triplets as opposed to two sisters/two friends.

Hayley Mills returns again which is good, even if her characters are forced into the storyline a bit too much. The three Creel sisters Leanna, Monica and Joy all do fine in their respective roles, while Barry Bostwick (Jeffrey) and Patricia Richardson (Cassie) are alright. It's a decent cast, though they don't stop the already noted issues.

I'm surprised they managed to squeeze yet another sequel out of this series later in 1989, yet I'm still willing to give it a chance as, in fairness, none of them are necessarily bad; they're just slowly declining in quality.
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4/10
Parent Trap III
snuffy-1524 September 2017
I love the Parent Trap movies; however, I think this one is way off the beam. If you've seen Parent Trap II, you know Susan is married to an airline pilot named Brian Casey and they live in Los Angeles.

It seems that in this movie Susan is getting involved with the father who has three daughters who don't like the woman their father plans to marry. They want him to marry Susan.

What I don't understand it that at no time are we apprised of Susan's marital state. Is she divorced or is she a widow? There is a huge jump between Parent Trap II and III. I was very disappointed in this one.
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not good
Moonlighting9 August 2003
This film right now is on tv in the UK. The film is very vague and the whole 'Parent Trap' plot and title used to gain the movie some respect. Hayley Mills characters only begin appearing alot after 45 minutes of the movie and eventually the whole triplets/parent trap gimmick becomes tiresome.
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4/10
Triple Trap
Kamurai2510 July 2020
Empty watch, won't watch again, and can't recommend.

While, 3 movies in, Hailey Mills has really grown on me, she's almost shoehorned into this story.

We're dealing with triplets instead of twins, so there is a nod to the first movie more than the 2nd, but instead of doing a shuffle, we do a very short lived version of the 2nd movie for nefarious purposes.

Even the main "trap" isn't great, they sort redo the 2nd movie's plot to target a parent with someone else with the twin switch.

There just isn't much here. There's more than the 2nd, but it's mostly just potential that is ultimately wasted.
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10/10
I loved this movie when I was little
susacat25 September 2007
This is a hilarious version of parent trap with a twist. Disney needs to release this movie for purchase! I've been looking everywhere and can't find it and it doesn't seem to be replayed on Disney anymore. It contains the grown-up original girls from the parent trap as well as a set of triplets. Anyone who loved the first parent trap will enjoy this, its a made for TV movie, not as sophisticated or well written as the original, but still fabulous. The premise is 3 triplets return from summers apart to find their dad engaged to of course of course, the wrong woman, sound familiar? I won't tell you anymore for fear of spoiling this comedy, but its the relationships between the girls and the pranks they play that make this an enjoyable unforgettable movie. You should watch it if you can find it!
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8/10
I liked it more than I thought I would
MyMovieTVRomance27 December 2022
There's something about how 1980s and homey this was that I loved. I'm a huge fan of grown-up Hayley Mills, and she's so warm and charming here.

The father is a little harsh at times, but he looks so familiar and I kinda like him. He and Mills have some sweet scenes together.

I didn't think I would enjoy "the other woman" plotline, but this was well-done, and there were no real villains here, which I appreciate. Patricia Richardson of "Home Improvement" fame (she played Tim's wife 'Jill') who in this film plays the fiancé the grumpy dad was engaged to was actually quite likable and funny, despite being obviously wrong for the family.

I also didn't think I would enjoy a triplets story at all, as I thought that a story about twins is wild enough, so with triplets, it would be too much, and that 3 identical looking actresses on the screen at once would get a little weird and grating on the nerves after a while, but it didn't bug me nearly like I thought it would, and the story with all 3 just played out rather nicely.

Given its relatively low rating, I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed this- I'd say even more than part 1, cause like I said, there's something so special about the grown-up Hayley Mills. She carries such warmth and wisdom, and age really becomes her. I will say though, there wasn't a lot of her playing her twin sister in this one, which was a shame, as I think the "Sharon" twin actually has much better hair haha (how is that even possible?!)!

Anyway, this was a surprisingly pleasant watch that I would recommend to fans of old 1980s TV movies, fans of mature romance, and all nostalgia buffs!

By the way, to those who were wondering what happened between the events of part 2 and this one to make Susan free to fall in love again, well, she explains midway through the movie that she is divorced and never sees her ex's kids anymore. So, she's not a widow, and her first marriage wasn't just forgotten, but she's divorced. Hey, it happens. But this was a good movie. Now, I need to watch part 2 again- it's been years since I've seen it. I only just recently realized that a total of 4 Hayley Mills "Parent Trap" movies were made! And all I can say is thank you 1980s Disney!!
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