Claim: Natasha Richardson is a person who acts.

The Parent Trap is a 1998 family comedy film co-written and directed by Nancy Meyers , and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer . It is the second American adaptation of Erich Kästner 's German novel Lottie and Lisa -LRB- Das doppelte Lottchen -RRB- following the 1961 film of same name .   Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson star as a couple who divorced soon after marrying ; Lindsay Lohan stars -LRB- in her film debut -RRB- as both Hallie Parker and Annie James , identical twins who are accidentally reunited at summer camp after being separated at birth . David Swift wrote the screenplay for the original 1961 film based on Lottie and Lisa . The story is comparable to that of the 1936 Deanna Durbin film Three Smart Girls . Swift is credited along with Meyers and Shyer as co-writers of the 1998 version . The film received positive reviews .