Big Business

Big Business Movie Poster

"Mixed up at birth, two sets of twins finally meet their match.  Two's company; four's a riot."  Big Business, released in 1988, starred Lily Tomlin as Rose Shelton and Rose Ratliff, and Bette Midler as Sadie Shelton and Sadie Ratliff.  Movie reviews were split right down the middle, and luckily, the movie was a financial success at the box office.

The movie begins with wealthy parent's-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Shelton getting lost in the backwoods of West Virginia while looking for a friend's summer home.  Mrs. Shelton is pregnant with twins, goes into labor, and the couple end up at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ratliff to get directions to the hospital.  It just so happens that Mrs. Ratliff is also pregnant with twins, in labor, and the two couples end up at the hospital at the same time.  During the confusion, one twin from each birth is switched, and they all end up with the same first names when one overhears the other's choice.

Fast forward 40 years, and the Shelton "sisters" are successful executives over a huge company, with one being the dominating sister and the other wishing for a different life, and the Ratliff "sisters" where in similar roles, with one handing up the business affairs and the other wishing life was different.  During a mutual business meeting, the twins finally meet, after a number of shenanigans, and they all end up getting their ultimate wish in the end.