Switching Goals (2 Stars)

Sam and Emma Stanton are 12-year-old twin sisters who live in a town called Evanston. I'm not sure which Evanston is meant, because I saw a car with a Conneticut license plate, and there's no Evanston in that state, only in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Wyoming. The film was made in Canada, so I suppose they didn't know any better.

As in all of the films starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the two girls look identical but have different personalities. Sam is good at sport, while Emma is more fashionable and attracts the boys. They're both jealous of one another. Sam wishes she could find a boyfriend, whereas Emma wishes she were better at sport so that she could gain more acceptance from their father, a soccer coach.

Until now the children's soccer teams have only been for boys, but now they have to accept female players as well. In order to please Emma, her Dad picks her for his team, the Hurricanes, which means that Sam has to play for another team. This is a big loss, because, as we see, Sam plays soccer better than any of the boys. Emma soon realises that she is letting her father down by playing in his team, so the two girls agree to swap clothes to change places. But while they're masquerading as one another Greg, a boy who wanted to date Emma, ends up taking Sam out.

The deception doesn't last long. The girls are exposed, and they have to play for their own teams again. Luckily Emma has some talent after all. During games she flirts with boys on the other side, and while they are distracted her team mates can score goals.

Maybe young teenagers would like this film. It doesn't appeal to me. On the contrary, I find it disturbing that the two girls are so precocious at their young age. Do girls really date boys when they're 12? And more to the point, do their parents allow it?