Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger

07 Apr 2007 09:57 PM

Tom and Kate Baker (Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt) have twelve rambunctious children. That's right, twelve. In a world where four children often constitutes a large family, twelve is definitely out of the norm. But they're adjusting, mostly. Living in a huge old house out in the country, they've got things down to a system and manage to stay calm, cool and collected, except for those rare occasions when Beans, the family pet frog, gets loose and lands right in the middle of the breakfast table, spattering scrambled eggs all over everyone.

Tom is fairly happy coaching a high school football team and Kate is content with an off-again, on-again journalism career, but all of a sudden, both of their dreams come true. Tom is invited to coach his alma mater's football team, and Kate gets a book offer. Uprooting their family and moving to Chicago, they begin what they hope will be the start of a brand new life, one where Lorraine (Hilary Duff) won't have to wear hand-me-downs and where they can afford all the sports equipment their kids can dream of. The new house is gorgeous, but the neighbors are . . . strange. Their attitude toward the Bakers is anything but accepting, and the Bakers feel unwelcome.

Then Kate is asked to go on a book tour for two weeks. Wanting to support her, Tom sends her on her way, but then gets in over his head as he tries to juggle his career, the kids, and the house. Things end up in a shambles, and it's only by working as a team that they're able to pull it all together again.

This movie had a lot of great comic moments, mostly of the slapstick variety, and we do see a lot of familial love. However, the kids ran absolutely wild and there was no consistent attempt to discipline them. The older teenagers didn't pull their weight in helping with the family, and I wished they had learned the lesson sooner - that teamwork is the key.

My biggest concern with the film was the way the other children treated Mark, one of the youngest. They said he was so different from them, the Fedex man must have delivered him, and they consistently called him Fedex. The parents never tried to put a stop to this taunting behavior, practically endorsing it by ignoring it. I couldn't disagree more.

Overall, however, this was an enjoyable film.

One funny -- I don't know if they did this on purpose or not, but there's a term used in the baking industry; "A baker's dozen." Well, the Bakers sure do have their dozen in this movie, which is rated PG.

Related Blogs:

Cheaper by the Dozen 2

Be Fruitful and Multiply

"Collecting" Children?

Learn more about Tristi Pinkston

I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006.

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