Tom & Thomas, The Christmas Twins

THE CHRISTMAS TWINS (DVD)

Release Date: October 18th 2010
Certificate: PG
Running Time: 109 minutes

Director: Esmé Lammers

Cast: Sean Bean, Inday Ba, Aaron Johnson, Ryan Nelson, Derek de Lint

Before he became a Kick-Ass, Aaron Johnson co-starred in this Christmas-themed family movie alongside Sean Bean, and directed by Dutch filmmaker Esmé Lammers. It’s based on the novel which she also wrote (together with Han Kuyper).

In the Netherlands, the film was released as Tom and Thomas.

Set in London where Paul Sheppard (Sean Bean) is a lone parent to his adopted son Thomas (Aaron Johnson), not knowing he has an identical twin brother separated at birth. Thomas has always felt the presence of his twin; when one falls or feels anxious, the other would feel it too, but Paul puts it down to an active imagination and so do his teachers at school.

His twin, Tom, lives in an orphanage where he is mistreated by the people who work there and eventually he runs away. When both boys meet accidentally on Thomas’ birthday at the Science Museum, Thomas is relieved to find that Tom wasn’t just part of his imagination, but they don’t know they are brothers. Desperate to keep him safe, Thomas hides Tom in his house and of course they pull the old switch-eroo with Paul.

There is a sub-plot involving some very bad men at the orphanage who are involved in child smuggling and are keen to track down Tom. This leads to Thomas being kidnapped later on after he is mistaken for Tom.

It’s an enjoyable film with a bit of adventure and it’s fun to watch the mischief they get up to.

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Aaron Johnson plays dual roles here, as both Tom and Thomas. Actors have been playing dual roles as identical twins for decades. Most recently Josh Pence played both Winklevoss brothers in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010). The Muscles from Brussels, Jean-Claude Van Damme, played Alex and Chad, who were separated at birth in Double Impact (1991) but reunite to perform the splits and high kicks. Probably most memorable though is Hayley Mills’ portrayal of Susan and Sharon in The Parent Trap (1961) which was later remade for Lindsey Lohan.