Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film)

This Christmas The More... The Scarier!
Synopsis | Awards | DVD | Review

Directed by	Shawn Levy
Produced by	Michael Barnathan
Written by	Craig Titley, Sam Harper, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow
Starring	Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, Hilary Duff
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Released	December 25, 2003 ( USA)
Running time	98 min.
Language	English
Budget	US$40,000,000

Cast overview, first billed only:

Steve Martin	Tom Baker
Bonnie Hunt	Kate Baker
Piper Perabo	Nora Baker
Tom Welling	Charlie Baker
Hilary Duff	Lorraine Baker
Kevin Schmidt	Henry Baker (as Kevin G. Schmidt)
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	Nigel Baker
Shane Kinsman	Kyle Baker
Paula Marshall	Tina Shenk

Cheaper by the Dozen is a 2003 American comedy-drama film about a family of fourteen, including the parents. It features a family of twelve children (seven boys and five girls). The screenplay was written by Craig Titley (screen story), Sam Harper, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow; the title was borrowed from the biography Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth, but other than the title and the number of family members, the film bears no resemblance to the book. The film is directed by Shawn Levy.

Plot and/or ending details follow

When Tom Baker (Steve Martin) gets his dream job at his alma mater, Northwestern University, as the football coach, it means that the family will need to move from the country to the city. The kids are all very displeased. His wife, Kate, (Bonnie Hunt) achieves her dream of having her book, Cheaper by the Dozen, published, so she goes on a book tour, leaving Tom alone for an intended two weeks with all the kids.

Synopsis

Shawn Levy directs the family-oriented comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, a loose remake of the 1950 film starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy, which was itself based on a novel. Tom (Steve Martin) and Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt) have made many sacrifices in their professional lives in order to raise their 12 children. When Tom is offered a job as a Division I college football coach, he moves the entire pack to a suburb of Chicago. This move shakes up the whole family, especially when Kate's memoirs get published and she takes off on a book tour. The lack of parental guidance creates problems for all the Baker kids, particularly handsome jock Charlie (Tom Welling), fashion plate Lorraine (Hilary Duff), and grown child Nora (Piper Perabo). Ashton Kucher stars in a cameo role as Nora's actor boyfriend, Hank.

 

Trivia

Mark plays a big role in the film, as at the end he "reunites" the family together.
Alyson Stoner, who plays Sarah Baker, runs the show "Mike's Super Short Show' in Disney Channel.

Sequels

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 was released on December 21, 2005

User Comments

21 out of 24 people found the following comment useful:-
'Name Only' Remake of 1950 Classic is Warm, Funny Film..., 28 March 2004

Awards: 2 wins & 7 nominations

Review

While the CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN opening titles credit the authors of the best-selling book the original 1950 film was based on (Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey), don't expect to see a remake of the charming, early-20th century comedy about two efficiency experts (Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy) running a complex but happy family...and this is not a BAD thing!

While the 1950 production is a minor classic, the thrust of the earlier film was with the parents, and oldest daughter (the late Jeanne Crain). Clifton Webb was a gifted, acerbic actor, best known, previously, as 'child hating' author Lynn Belvedere, who proved he was as adept at raising children as he was at EVERYTHING he attempted, in the 1948 hit, SITTING PRETTY. The film was such a success that two sequels were made, and Webb would do several more 'family' comedies before his death in 1966. Playing Frank Bunker Gilbreth, the father of twelve, was a 'natural' for the actor, and the 61-year old Webb 'stole' the film with his self-effacing, 'scientific' approach to child rearing. As his wife, Lillian, Myrna Loy, who had graduated from being 'Nora Charles' in the "Thin Man" series, to being Hollywood's favorite wife/mom, shared Bonnie Hunt's sweetness, sense of organization, and dry humor, but lacked a sexual chemistry with Webb that would have produced twelve children (perhaps because of the time the film was made). Jeanne Crain, one of 20th Century Fox's favorite ingénues for over six years, had a large fan base, which the studio capitalized on (She was actually second-billed in the film, behind Webb). Her scene at a 1920's prom, with Webb as her 'date', is a film highlight. While the eleven other children were given 'moments' in the film, they barely registered, individually.

Would 2003 audiences have gone to see Martin in a period comedy set eighty years earlier? I doubt it. And had the original story had been simply 'updated', would it have been truly faithful to the source, even in spirit? Unlikely, as so much has changed over the years. Ultimately, the film makers erred, I believe, in using the title of the earlier film, but not in the approach of making a 'family-friendly' comedy about a household of massive proportions.

With Steve Martin, who has become Hollywood's quintessential 'Dad', as a loving, unconventional father/football coach given an opportunity to head his alma mater's team, he displays the same kind of sensitivity that made PARENTHOOD such a wonderful film. Bonnie Hunt, as his wife, is completely believable as a successful author who could handle her large family and still-frisky husband equally well. She is, as always, a treasure!

The children are really the stars of the film, though, and each is special, and individual, from the eldest daughter (Piper Perabo), who, at 22, wants the family to accept the guy she's living with (Ashton Kutcher, in a funny, brief role), to the youngest pair of twins (Brent and Shane Kinsman), who make an art out of wreaking havoc. Tom Welling is quite likable, and proves that he is more than just 'Clark Kent' (For you trivia fans, Kutcher almost got the part of 'Superman' in an upcoming film, which would have put two 'Men of Steel' in the cast). The only discordant note is Hillary Duff's annoyingly brittle second daughter; she may be a 'teen idol', but she is more grating than endearing.

Director Shawn Levy's previous film, JUST MARRIED, was a loud, unpleasant, clichéd bore; in CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, he redeems himself with a more enjoyable, richer film.

While the movie will never earn the 'classic' status the earlier film achieved, it stands very well on it's own merits!

DVD

Genre: Comedy / Family

Plot Outline: With his wife doing a book tour, a father of twelve must handle a new job and his unstable brood.

User Comments: 'Name Only' Remake of 1950 Classic is Warm, Funny Film.

 

MPAA: Rated PG for language and some thematic elements.
Runtime: 98 min / Germany:94 min (DVD version)
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color (DeLuxe)
Sound Mix: DTS / Dolby Digital
Certification: Iceland:L / Malaysia:U / Finland:S / USA:PG (certificate #40326) / Australia:G / Germany:o.Al. / Norway:5 / Philippines:G / Singapore:PG / UK:PG / Canada:PG (Ontario)

Trivia

The actual family did not have any twins. All the children were single births and the father regretted this because he felt multiple births to be more efficient.

Goofs

Continuity: As the kids are pulling the hose to trip Hank, right before he falls his hair and shirt are already wet from previous takes.

Quotes:
Sarah Baker: Does anyone besides me think our "happier and stronger" life, is actually code for "nastier and suckier"?
Mike: First dad forces us to move
Jake: Then mom decides to become a career woman and like, travel the globe
Jessica Baker: And now, we have to take orders from Hank, the model/actor!
Mark: And he hates kids too.

DVD Chapters

Twelve Is Our Number (Main Titles)
Managing Chaos
Breakfast with Beans
Shake's Offer
We're Not Moving!
Moving Day
A New Home
The Neighbors
Day 14 On The Alien Planet
Kate's Big News
Help from Nora
Heads Up, Hank
Funny, But Wrong
First Day of School
Dad in Charge
Looking for Backup
Missing Midland
Coaching Two Teams
Panic at the Party
The Tour's Over
Charlie's Choice
An Ultimatum
One Big, Happy Family
Looking for Mark
A Different Dream
We Love the Coach
Twelve Is Still Our Number
End Titles