Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005)

As a general rule, in my book any movie that bills itself as a comedy and includes a scene where a dog goes for someone's crotch has failed - see "Hudson Hawk" and "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills." As a general rule, in my book anything with Carmen Electra is a must to avoid (except for her episode of "The Simpsons," of course). "Cheaper By The Dozen 2" has both, and the latter is actually bearable in a Kathy Ireland kind of way as Eugene Levy's fourth wife. In no sense should she come off better than either him or Steve Martin.

The first movie was no classic, but it was amusing; this followup is even less of a classic and almost entirely non-amusing - the movie's totally predictable (is there a chance that pregnant Piper Perabo's waters will break at just the wrong moment?), fails to get even the cheapest sentiment deservedly, and most of the jokes are DOA and/or badly staged, with the exceptions of the duelling campfire singalong and the scene where Martin and Levy are spying on two of their kids in a cinema showing "Ice Age." Lucky them. (Incidentally, Martin says the movie is rated G; "Ice Age" was rated PG in America.)

My condolences to the cast, who do try their best with Sam Harper's script (even Tom Welling and Jaime King) - but you know what they say about sow's ears and silk purses. A harmless but pretty dispiriting and bland sequel; and Hilary Duff's worryingly gaunt appearance isn't a plus. Like the script, the girl needs some help.

Fmovies: My Take: Trite, predictable family diversion.

After having dismissing it as a simple-minded family picture for many times, I gave CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, a very loose adaptation of a novel by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, a try and it turned out to be a surprise delight. It wasn't perfect, maybe not even formula, but I was delighted by it. It was a lot of fun and it never seemed to run our of energy, especially for the always funny Steve Martin. Martin is back in this sequel, and so is much of the same cast, Bonnie Hunt in particular. Joining the original cast is a new set of players including American PIE regular Eugene Levy, parody-movie regular Carmen Electra and another batch of kids and teens. This is CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2, and if I was wrong about the first film, I was more wrong to think this one will be better.

In this sequel, the family that couldn't get along leaves all their indifference behind a long time ago. Now their one big, happy family. While going on a camping vacation (as usual, they have to live inside a rotten, old cabin), they get into some competition with dad Tom Baker's (Martin) old rival Jimmy Murtaugh (Levy) and his family, composed of sexy wife Sarina (Electra) and eight children. See Murtaugh is athletic and daring while Tom only wishes that his kids (jealous as always) would have a better vacation. So on goes a series of challenges and competitions they go through, fighting for who gets the better summer this year.

Unfortunately, it might have not been the audience. Having missed it on the big screen, I caught CHEAPER 2 on TV and, since I wasn't really anticipating anything (a sequel to CHEAPER is nothing big to get excited about). That probably helps to be able to enjoy a movie like this. But while lowering your expectations might help at being kind to your response to it, that doesn't necessarily mean liking it. Martin and Levy (funny men, by the way) are at their best efforts, as Hunt playing responsible mother Kate, but they can't shine in a script than limits what they can do. Kids, as usual, will drag you to the video store to rent or buy it, and maybe you should. But don't be surprised if you won't like it. It really isn't made for you.

Rating: ** out of 5.

This movie is as stereotypical as a family comedy can get in fact we have seen so many similar roles from Steve Martin in family comedies that one cannot honestly expect much from such films and indeed i went into this movie(as the company demanded i see a pg rated film) expecting as much.

The good part about the whole thing is that family comedies follow fool proof formulas and as such it is rare to find a bad one. So we have the summer release the 2 hot teens, one hot mom (carmen Electra looked spectacular), the overzealous and protective dad, the childhood romance etc etc you get what I'm saying right.

The acting of this movie is good with special mention for Steve Martin who is a regular comedy dad and even though brings nothing new to the film at least insures you never get bored. Eugene Levy also does a good job playing the eccentric dad of the rival family. Carmen Electra i realised is actually a good actress and looks great in this movie. However former preteen-queen Hilary duff looked way to thin and quite ugly.

The jokes of the film mostly squeaky clean although there is some much appreciated jokes for the adults that are so needed in this film. Particularly funny is the scene where the dog spoils the elaborate lunch, the take on another famous creature movie was hilarious. The film is filled with funny moments that will make you smile maybe force a half laugh but no scene is fall out your seat funny.

The film also serves the regular family fare with ease but almost every scene looks run of the mill and there is nothing new to add to film in the family-comedy-drama department. Being from India i found the father following his child on a date quite funny and something which i can actually picture someone who i know doing.

The movie is absolute run of the mill affair and loosed out on the novelty value that the first one enjoyed. However it serves the regular enjoyable family fare.

Watch it only if the company (family, going with friend and his girl friend for the first movie hehe) requires that you watch such a film.

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 fmovies. I liked the first one better, but this movie was funny in its own right.

I read someone's review before about how its nothing like the book. I haven't read the book, but, I have to say this - In this day and age did you really expect them to keep to the book? Look at all the other movies based on books - Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, for examples - they are as true representations as you get. Everything else - Ella Enchanted, for example - doesn't resemble the book in any way, excluding the title and the names of the characters. I've learned not to have high expectations of movies based on books, and until you do, you're always going to be disappointed. You've got to look at the movie for what it is, not for what the book was.

Tom and Kate (Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt) decide to take the whole family on a summer vacation to Lake Winnetka, but it soon turns into a competition between their family and that of Tom's arch-rival Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy).

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is a harmless and bland sequel. It offers a few laughs but not enough to sustain its running time. The original film was an okay family film, nothing special. The sequel is more or less the same and it also makes for a decent family film. I was expecting a little more though. There are a few interesting subplots but the main premise is very silly. I know it's a family movie and all but why did the story have to be so generic? Since the script is weak there is a lack of character development, the film is kind of boring. There are a few funny gags and performances but they aren't good enough to save the movie.

The acting is okay and only a couple people give good performances. The best performance is given by Alyson Stoner. Her character goes through the most development and she handles it pretty well. Liliana Mumy and Morgan York also give good performances though they don't get a lot of screen time. The strength of the comedy should have been the rivalry between Steve Martin and Eugene Levy. Levy is only mildly funny while Steve Martin is not funny at all. He just tries too hard and it comes off as annoying. Bonnie Hunt gives a decent performance and she has a few funny lines. Hilary Duff gives an annoying performance as Lorraine and she's hardly in the film, which is a good thing. Carmen Electra makes for good eye candy but she doesn't do anything special. Piper Perabo and Jamie King both give decent performances. Tom Welling just gives a bland performance while Jonathon Bennett only has a few lines and his character is not developed at all.

Director Adam Shankman only does an okay job behind the camera. I like the way he captures the Baker family and their love for one another. There are some nice moments in the movie about family values and the ending is pretty nice. Besides for that, he just keeps the film bland and uninteresting while leaving out some of the Baker kids. On the one hand, I wanted the film to be longer than 90 minutes so all the characters could have been portrayed well. On the other hand, if they had kept the same story and made the film longer then the movie would have been unbearable. On a last note, compared to Yours, Mine and Ours, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 looks like a masterpiece. In the end, the movie is only average but it should make for a nice rental if you're looking for a family film. Rating 5/10

I guess it's been a long time since Steve played the banjo on the Muppet Show. I have really enjoyed some of Steve's movies..."Roxanne", "Being There", etc. but he seems to have lost his touch in this one.

This movie is still very watchable mind you, but the "former" Steve is missing. It seems there were too many gags (ie; dog & crotch, dangling from balcony) and not enough real comedy like we're used to from Steve (such as the nose jokes in Roxanne).

Also this movie has nothing to do with the 1950 "Cheaper by the Dozen" (or it's original sequel "Belles on Their Toes")...other than 12 kids of course. It seemed more akin to "The Great Outdoors" or "Meatballs".

There were some cute scenes however: The two kids crush & the dads both spying on them in the theatre, and nearly giving birth in a canoe I found amusing. It would have been a lot more amusing had she actually given birth in the canoe though.

Oddly my favourite actress in this was the little girl (can't remember her name right now) who had the crush on the little boy. She was really cute and engaging. I hope she appears in more movies.

Thankfully, I did not pay money to see this (thanks to the wonders of bittorrent) But I will definitely be buying the DVD. It is a good family movie, just not up to my expectations for Steve Martin.

Possibly I should not endorse downloading, but movie-going is difficult where I live as it entails a long, costly ferry trip. Otherwise I probably would have seen this in a theatre.