| Director | Nancy Meyers |
|---|---|
| Genre | comedy drama, comedy of remarriage, family film, film based on a novel, melodrama, romantic comedy |
| Runtime | 127 min |
| Country | United Kingdom, United States |
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $92.1 million |
In 1986, American wine grower Nicholas "Nick" Parker and British wedding gown designer Elizabeth James fall in love and marry aboard a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth 2. Shortly after Elizabeth gives birth to identical twins, Annie and Hallie, their parents divorce and become estranged, as Elizabeth returns to England with Annie while Nick gets full custody of Hallie. Annie is raised in London, and Hallie grows up on Nick's vineyard in Napa, California, neither knowing the other exists.
Nearly 12 years later, Annie and Hallie are coincidentally sent to the same summer camp in Maine. They first meet at the end of a fencing match, stunned to see that they look identical. A rivalry ensues, escalating from a poker match into a prank war, which leads the two girls to be sent to stay in the isolation cabin. Annie and Hallie begin to bond, and learn that they have the same birthday. Each has a torn photo of the parent they have never known, which they discover are halves of their parents’ wedding photo.
Realizing that they are twins, Annie and Hallie hatch a plan to switch places and force their parents to reunite. Each twin trains the other to impersonate her, even cutting Annie’s hair and piercing her ears, and the sisters go home in each other’s place at the end of summer camp. In London, Hallie meets Elizabeth, Elizabeth's father Charles, and the family butler Martin, while Annie meets Nick and their family housekeeper Chessy in California.
Annie is dismayed to learn that Nick is engaged to Meredith Blake, a 26-year-old gold digger. Chessy realizes the truth about the twins’ swap but agrees to keep the secret from Nick, while Hallie phones Annie to warn her about Nick's upcoming wedding, but is caught by her grandfather. With Charles’s encouragement, Hallie confesses to her mother, who is surprised but happy to have spent time with her other daughter, and agrees to travel to California to establish joint custody of the twins between both parents.
The twins arrange for Nick and Elizabeth to meet at a San Francisco hotel, where Chessy and Martin soon fall for each other. Elizabeth is secretly disappointed to learn about Nick’s engagement, and Nick is so stunned to see Elizabeth that he falls into the pool. Despite the twins' deception, Nick is happy to learn that Annie has been with him since the end of camp. With Chessy and Martin's help, the twins recreate the night their parents met through a romantic dinner on a yacht. As they reminisce, Elizabeth reveals that she had secretly hoped Nick would follow her after their breakup, and both wonder what would have happened if he had.
Nick and Elizabeth decide not to resume their relationship, but agree on shared custody of the twins. Elizabeth prepares to go home with Annie, but the twins refuse to reveal which one is which unless the entire family takes a camping trip. Elizabeth later insists that Meredith go in her place to get to know the twins before becoming their stepmother. The twins play a series of pranks on Meredith, who demands that Nick choose between her and them. Finally seeing Meredith's true nature, Nick chooses his daughters and breaks off the engagement.
Elizabeth and Nick realize they are still in love, but go their separate ways. When Elizabeth and Annie return to London, they find Nick and Hallie waiting for them, having taken the Concorde. Nick declares that he does not want to make the same mistake of not running after Elizabeth again, and they kiss. Elizabeth and Nick remarry with Annie and Hallie as their bridesmaids on the Queen Elizabeth 2, where Martin proposes to Chessy.