Cheaper By The Dozen Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
This Christmas The More... The Scarier!
Growing pains? They've got twelve of them!
The Bakers, a family of 12, move from small-town Illinois to the big city after Tom Baker (Martin) gets his dream job to coach his alma mater's football team. Meanwhile, his wife (Hunt) also gets her dream of getting her book published. While she's away promoting the book, Tom has a hard time keeping the house in order while at the same time coaching his football team, as the once happy family starts falling apart.
| Ashton Kutcher | Hank |
| Bonnie Hunt | Kate Baker |
| Steve Martin | Tom Baker |
| Piper Perabo | Nora Baker |
| Hilary Duff | Lorraine Baker |
| Tom Welling | Charlie Baker |
| Kevin Schmidt | Henry Baker |
| Alyson Stoner | Sarah Baker |
| Jacob Smith | Jake Baker |
| Liliana Mumy | Jessica Baker |
| Morgan York | Kim Baker |
| Forrest Landis | Mark Baker |
| Blake Woodruff | Mike Baker |
| Brent Kinsman | Kyle Baker |
| Paula Marshall | Tina Shenk |
| Shawn Levy |
5.70 out of 10 (12338 votes)
Visitor Reviews
warm and charming - Steve Martin is the king of family movies
posted on 08 Aug 2009A remark of "Cheaper by the Dozen?" I admit I was skeptical that this could be done succesfully. I generally don't like remakes and redo's much; however, family friendly movies worth seeing don't come along that often and I had to see for myself. My impression of this movie was that it depicted the angst, the humor, the warmth, and ultimately the unstaggering solidness of family. During this time when families everywhere are falling apart at the seams, I welcome such a salute to not only large families but the "family" in general. To me one of the most endearing features of this film was that it was not a carbon copy of the original - it brought all the issues of kids, parents, and family straight into the 21st centry.
Cheaper by the dozen
posted on 01 Aug 2009Summary- The book Cheaper by the dozen is about a man and his family who have to be abel to make more money so they move to a different town. They get the name Cheaper by the donzen because there are twelve kids in their family. All this family is about is fight, fight and more fight. When the kids have to move to a new town their parents tell the kids going to fit in, now what do you think is going to happen? Well read tehe book and you will find out!
Summary- The movie Chepaer by the dozen is a great movie. It is almost the same plot as the book. They do have their differences. How they are alike- The book cheaper by the dozen and the movie do have some things alike and there are aloso some differnt things. To start off with one of one things that os different is in the movie the dad is a very slim in shape man, and in the book the dad is a very fat out of shape man. Also the kids in the movie have different names form the kids in the book. One of the main things is that they discribe their house totaly diffent then they acctualy look. In thee book kids acctuly look different too.
One of the worst remakes I have seen in some time
posted on 25 Jul 2009At least the number of Children was the same as the actual story.This Movie has no other real similarities other than the number of children as portrayed in the original 1950 version which was based on the Book and on the real-life story of the Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr. and Lillian Moller Gilbreth Family as written by their children Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. This is another example of Hollywierds attempt to portray Men as bumbling and incompetent Stooges and Women as the Strong heroic member of the household. Tolerating misbehaving children without discipline and hoping that they grow in to normal well adjusted Adults is a Hollywierd fantasy. Women were portrayed poorly in the past, in many films it's true though never has any sort of injustice been remedied by taking turns at it, nor will it ever.The plot of this totally 'NEW' story which has the same name as the 1950 movie is weak. The acting is just ok. The "NEW" story is the same as most of the modern California renditions of Typical Family life in the late and now early 21st Century. Hollywood has run out of ideas and remakes too many films, poorly in my opinion. I suppose we should be prepared to enjoy the Movie version of Father Knows Best, starring Al Frankin and Madonna, Brittany Spears and ICE 'something or other' by 2006!
i saw the screening and was very impressed..
posted on 17 Jul 2009i saw the screening yesterday not expecting much, but found myself thoroughly enjoying this movie.. not only is it funny and clever, but also heartwarming without being over the top.. and especially great family movie, but also fun to see with friends.. teenage stars hillary duff and tom welling will surely draw fans, but it's the younger actors and actresses in this movie that really make it memorable.. i most definitely recommend this movie when it comes out..
a very warm film
posted on 12 Jul 2009As family movies goes, this one is a nice one. It is warm and very funny. We left very touched and glad that someone out in Hollywood decided to make this category of film. I for one would love to see more family movies out there like this. As a parent, I do get tired of going to only cartoon movies, it was a nice change. :)
Pretty lame, but fun enough
posted on 02 Jul 2009It did have it's funny moments and I love some of the actors in it. Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt who play the parents are two of my favorites. The guy from Smallville that plays the oldest son is a good actor and one of the most handsome men alive. I like the gal who plays the oldest daughter and Ashton Kutcher as her boyfriend. And all the people who play the neighbor family next door are great. Some of the child actors were pretty good and some were irritating (especially HIlary Duff). I come from a family of 9 children so I HAD to see this movie and though I wouldn't watch it again I'm glad I saw it. Any movie where children plot outrageous tricks against adults that involve serious cooperation and succeed or are outright ridiculous just irritate me and this movie had two of those scenes. And though the frog in the eggs was ridiculous, at least it was really funny and well done. The outtakes are good too. I also enjoyed the game of Apple Schmear. And I wish I could buy that house they live in in Chicago, it was fabulous.
A good family movie....
posted on 28 Jun 2009Even though I would have much rather seen LOTR:ROTK for a second time, my friend and I went to see Cheaper By The Dozen. I was actually pretty surprised by it. Steve Martin does a really good job as Tom Baker, the father who tries to live out his dream of being the head football coach at a top university. Of course, along the way he realizes that real dreams are made of family...and life has a way of changing what your dreams really are about. Martin, of course, makes these themes come to life in a really comical way....I mean...who will ever be able to forget that chandelier! LOL This is a really cute and funny film for the whole family...especially for parents and 'tweens. I highly recommend this one....especially if all of the Lord of the Rings movies are sold out!
What a good movie!!
posted on 27 Jun 2009I'm afraid I don't understand why everyone hated this movie. I went to the theater with my family thinking that I was going to be falling asleep by the end of the night. Instead, I found myself laughing hysterically at the somewhat corny but humorous jokes and stunts. Being in a family of eight, I could very much relate to some of the chaos that occurred throughout the movie. I agree that a lot of the chaos in the movie was a little unrealistic but who ever said that realistic humor was funny anyway? I've never read the books nor have I seen the classic version of the film but I can still say from what I saw that it was a good movie for the family to see. This was another reason I liked Cheaper By The Dozen. There are very few films that are actually decent for the whole family to see. Cheaper By The Dozen was a clean comedy and I would highly recommend this movie, especially if you have a large family! (you might get a kick out of it!)
a nice family movie
posted on 27 Jun 2009This movie was in some ways similar to Parenthood in its depiction of the ups and down of family life. It was perhaps more superficial than Parenthood, but similarly enjoyable.Steve Martin's performance as the father was not quite as solid, either, and Bonnie Hunt's role as the mother was a little too sketchy, but the kids were great (although some looked a little too close in age range to be realistic).Definitely a decent holiday movie for all the family.
Father of the bride AND her 11 siblings?! (POSSIBLE SPOILERS!)
posted on 27 Jun 2009... By the end, I felt like I had 12 children; F.Y.I: NOT a good thing! I'm a little confused over which group of people is supposed to see the appeal in this? If you're childless like me, you'll probably vow forever to remain so, and if you have any more than one kid you'll start thinking that this is where you should stop. It's hardly an advert for the traditional 'Nuclear Family' - in fact, the film is a little confused as to the message it's sending... "We had one perfect child and then decided we should stop", versus, "This rabble aren't a bad bunch, really"...Perhaps it's aimed at the middle-aged retired suffering from the pangs of the 'Empty Nest' syndrome... ? Not a demographic Steve Martin should really be pitching to, but then; with his mostly 'toothless' output since the eighties, maybe there are plans afoot to make him a 'life peer'?! Kids being unsubtle, that's it's stock-in-trade, so it's really only for you if you like your humour childish at heart. "Organised" chaos? You bet, 'cos in real-life it wouldn't be this much of a breeze! Oh, there are the expected mini-dramas of 'neglect' and diminutive runaways, but when the brood are all together it's really shown as a 'wacky' time - no 'kitchen-sink reality' included. I suppose that's really where I give the movie its one plus-point; you tend to believe this cast as a 'family unit' - no small feat when you consider the age ranges. In the sequel, if they show them at each others throats; then perhaps I'll make a concession and give credit where credit is due, just not here.
Maybe a remake of a different movie, but Steve Martin plays the role well!!
posted on 24 Jun 2009This movie mixes Romance - Family - Football into one complete pizza.
Now I know why Steve Martin has gray hair, 12 kids would give you gray hair too.
Steve Martin is good in these family movies like "Father of the Bride" & "Parenthood".
But I would say this is one of the best he has stared in being a father, coach & husband.
I have been watching Steve Martin's movies since the early to mid 80's,
when it comes to comedy Steve is one wild and crazy guy!!
I rate this movie a 8 from 1to10!!
Cheaper not to traumatize yourself
posted on 03 Jun 2009I've always liked Steve Martin but after seeing Cheaper by the Dozen I felt almost traumatized and now, just hearing the title of the movie makes me shiver. I didn't go to the cinema with high expectations by any means, but I at least expected the movie to be 'watchable', so to speak. It wasn't! My six-year-old-son, like me, has a keen interest in comedy and we both love some of Martin's previous movies like 'The Jerk'. But fifteen minutes into 'Cheaper' and he turned to me and said 'Mum, this movie's really bad! Can we go now?' He was five at the time! Even when considered against the milieu of the 'bad movie' genre, among such horrors as The Bodyguard, Far and Away and Grease 2, for example, Cheaper stands out for it's brain-numbing banality. Though I've never seen the original movie based on the book, I can only assume it must have been better than the 2003 remake, otherwise why would anyone in their right mind have bothered remaking it? Two seemingly brain dead, ultra yuppie parents have the most boringly scripted conversations in movie history about whether or not the father (Martin) should pursue a football career and whether the mother (can't remember the actresses name and don't want to) should go off somewhere and become an author. Oh dear! While Martin seems to put a lot of energy into a whole lot of nothing (not really his fault I guess; nobody could have stood up against such an atrocious script and likewise directing) the actress who plays 'mom' seems totally detached from the film and consequently portrays a character that is almost frighteningly dull. The dozen 'madcap' kids who, incidentally and insultingly to the intelligence, bear no familial resemblance to each other whatsoever, are all over the place both literally and in terms of character portrayal. The script is diffuse and inconsistent and the attempts at sub-plotting would be laughable if the whole movie wasn't so utterly painful.This is corporate Hollywood milking a cash-cow - sucking us in by putting Martin in the film but then torturing us with what was surely thrown together in half the normal amount of film-making time at half the cost. I feel angry that I paid the money to see it and advise anyone else who is considering it not to put themselves through it; save yourself the price of the movie ticket AND the therapy bill!My vote: Minus 18 out of 100
Above average family film WARNING!!!!!! SPOILERS!!!!!!
posted on 30 May 2009Above average family film that is enjoyable and well made but it is also uneven at times with a couple of unlikable characters there was a scene that pulled my heart strings was when SPOILERS!!!!! SPOILERS!!! when Kyle Ran away from home i thought that was pretty sad and there are a lot of moments that ring true. i liked most of the characters and enjoyed the story even though there were a few plot holes in hand. I have yet to see the original quite frankly don't know if i am going to i am perfectly happy with this remake and thought it was rather well done. it was well cast and well directed. The Acting is good Steve Martin gives another AWESOME performance here as the football coach and is still as funny as ever but also plays his serious parts well. Bonne Hunt can play this role in her sleep and is excellent as always. Piper Perabo is GORGEOUS! and does very well here i was impressed with her performance in Coyote Ugly and the same goes for this movie. Tom Welling holds is own here and does fine. i liked him a lot Hilary Duff surprisingly does pretty good here she talks about herself a lot but is very likable and is quite GORGEOUS!!!! to boot even as an adult i's hard not to think she's gorgeous. rest of the cast and kids do fine. Overall well worth the watch Recommended *** out of 5
Rental Only
posted on 22 May 2009Though the acting was not bad I had a very hard time watching this movie and concentrate on the acting. I did not see the original release but saw it in the dollar theaters. I do not know if it was their copy or was on the original release but while sitting there watching I was constantly drawn away from the story with the magical appearance of the boom mike above the heads of all the actors. It wasn't a one-time thing as in some movies but a constant appearance. I saw the boom mike enough I watched the credits waiting to see if the mike itself was given credits because of the constant appearance. If it was just the copy I saw let me know I would purchase this film on DVD only if the mike were removed. Other than that from what I could watch was not bad at all.
The kind of movie that makes you glad you're childless.
posted on 20 May 2009With "Star Wars" it was "Do not underestimate the power of The Force"; with "Cheaper By The Dozen" it's "Do not underestimate the power of really cute blondes." This is another way of saying that I probably wouldn't have coughed up £5 to see this shallow and anodyne but harmless family movie if Hilary Duff hadn't been in it. (Oh, like I'm the only one... you know who you are. Plus I'm willing to bet that some young and not-so-young women went to see this purely for that fellow off "Smallville.") And let's face it, it would make more sense than going to see it because it looked like a wonderful movie.For all the drawbacks the Bradfords displayed on "Eight is Enough," Tommy, Nicholas and co. were more distinctive than the children here; plus they only had one... how can I put this... brat, as opposed to several. The acting aside, their antics are neither particularly funny nor remotely adorable (and they actually come across as far too selfish to be sympathetic), with only Mark - the boy who's always called "FedEx" because he doesn't really fit in - given anything remotely interesting to do and leaving the other children, even unto first born Piper Perabo, with the filmic equivalent of scraps. It's painful enough so that the movie improve when it focuses on the adults; Steve Martin isn't as good here as he was in "Parenthood," but definite shout-outs to Bonnie Hunt, Richard Jenkins, a surprisingly non-irritating Ashton Kutcher as Nora (Perabo)'s narcissistic boyfriend, and Wayne Knight (in a non-funny running gag about the hallway chandelier always crashing down). Bonus points to the latter two about going uncredited...The movie could have done without signposting its plot points through songs dumped on the soundtrack (what should accompany a montage of the family facing problems in their life but "In Too Deep"), and Christophe Beck's score isn't one of his best either, with its circus-style cues for the slapstick scenes. And the script never really convinces you either, even in its smaller moments (when the father of the family next door suddenly changes his mind about the main brood in the movie's main moment of "drama" it seems awfully convenient); it's so predictable that I knew it was Hilary singing over the end credits well before said credits confirmed it. (One of the few surprises about the movie is that there was no album.)In spite of the above, it's still preferable to other movies produced by the dreaded Robert Simonds ("Problem Child," etc), and it passes the time... and it could have been much, much worse (witness "Daddy Day Care"). But "Cheaper By The Dozen," though it has some amusing moments and a couple of sensitive ones, just doesn't work - among other things, to paraphrase "The Simpsons," it didn't have enough of that wonderful Duff.
Fun, Light hearted, Wholesome, Uplifting
posted on 18 May 2009Although it took a few minutes to warm-up, the movie held my attention and ended beautifully.After reading several reviews about this movie, I was reluctant to see it. I went only because my wife said that she was going -- with or without me. I was expecting to be bored and disappointed. What a surprise. Although Cheaper by the Dozen probably won't win any major awards, it WILL entertain you.If you want to see a fun, light hearted, relatively wholesome and uplifting movie, this one qualifies.
Cheaper By The Dozen
posted on 11 Aug 2009Another great family movie! We LOVE this movie and watch it very often. If you like this movie as much as we do you should also be sure to check out "The Pacifier" and "Daddy DayCare".