Rating: 
Summary: Half Baker's Dozen
Review: Cheaper By The Dozen was first put on film in 1950 and starred actor Clifton Webb. That earlier film got its inspiration from a book, written by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, who were actually part of a large family with 12 kids. As the youngest of six kids myself, I was kind of looking forward to seeing how the remake would fare aginst my own memories of childhood.Tom Baker (Steve Martin, playing yet another hapless dad) gets a job offer to coach football at Northwestern University in Chicago. He and his wife, Mary (Bonnie Hunt),decide to move to the big city, which is quite an adjustment for them and their 12 children. This large brood range in age from preschool twins Kyle and Nigel all the way up to 22-year-old Nora (Piper Perabo) who has already left home. With the recent publication of her long time coming book, Mary feels the demands outside the home taking away as much time as Tom's new job does, so the two are forced to try to find new ways of parenting their massive tribe, but they find their parenting styles aren't always completely compatible. This as jock Charlie (Tom Welling) and looks obsessed Lorraine (Hilary Duff) try and find their own ways to make Tom and Mary understand them. Director Shawn Levy does a decent job considering how many characters he has to juggle in the film. Martin could have done this role in his sleep though And may I say that is the calmest football coach I have ever seen on TV or in the movies. For me, the movie has only a few moments of genuine laughter though. Most of the time the script is pretty heavy handed, especially at the end. Pretty boy Ashton Kutcher does his slapstick thing as Nora's actor boyfriend. While poor Alan Ruck and Paula Marshall are wasted in the typical neighbor roles. On the plus side, the younger actors make things watchable and play off each other and the parents quite well. Even though most of them don't look like they belong in the same clan. Oh well. There's enough here to make this film light family fare, despite all of my issues. Fans of Martin or Hunt will still have a good time *** and a half stars
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Funny Movie!
Review: Steve Martin movies are usually very good. "Bringing Down the House," was great, as was "Novocaine," but now he is starting to go to family movies in "Cheaper by the Dozen." "Cheaper by the Dozen," is a remake of a much older movie that was based on a book. The reason I liked this movie was that it was funny, smart, and it was not just an hour and a half of children screaming. Steve Martin was funny in it, very much like he usually is, and I could see them making a sequal out of it, especially since it's already made over a hundred million dollars since Christmas Day. The movie is about Tom and Kate Baker who live in the small town of Midland with their kids. They have twelve of them. Tom is a collage football couch, and his wife is writing a book on her family which is actually called Cheaper by the Dozen. Their oldest daughter Nora has moved out of the house and is living with her model/actor boyfriend Hank. When Tom gets a job offer to couch another football team they move to a new city, much to the dismay of their children, who find out wuickly that they do not fit in the new city. Their next oldest children next to Nora is Charlie, who has made it pretty clear that he does not really like his father, and Lorraine, who is always obsessing about what the family wears, how they look, etc etc. The rest of the children also always make fun of Mark, who is so unlike everybody else in the family, that the kids call him "Fedex," as if he was delivered to them. They are just settling into their new home, and their new life, when Kate gets her book published and she has to go away for two weeks to promote it. Tom states that he could handle the kids for those two weeks, and be able to go to work, so Kate goes. Problems start right away when Nora and Hank come and the kids make it their personal mission to annoy Hank in any way that they can. Take this one scene where they soak his underwear in meat so that the dog would chase after him. It's clever, especially since it was thought up by ten year olds. More problems arise from Kate leaving, and that's pretty much the story to "Cheaper by the Dozen." If Tom was played by anybody else then Steve Martin, the movie might not have complety worked. I also don't like the way people always state that they shouldn't make a remake of a classic. I don't compare remakes to the oringal. The remake is a new movie. It's a seprate movie and I think about it, as if the first movie was never made. The same with book adaptations. I see the movie as if the book was never made. That's what you have to do with "Cheaper by the Dozen." It's an hour and a half long, and it's funny, with some good acting, and some very funny moments and very funny scenes. ENJOY! Rated PG for language and some thematic elements.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm a teenager --- this is my favorite movie.
Review: First of all, I have to disagree with the people who commented saying that teenagers don't appreciate this movie. I think I went to see this movie with about 8 other 16-18 year old girls, and we loved it. It honestly is our favorite movie of all time. The reason? HOT GUYS. Ashton Kutcher? Tom Welling? Of course. And we think Hilary Duff is soo sweet too. This movie has romance, comedy, hot boys, and is a very, very, very cute family movie. The cuteness is immense, and we loved it a lot. Its just a fun movie that I think anybody can see and appreciate. It has good family morals, too. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BUYING THIS DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Da Best
Review: Totally one of the best movies for all ages. Alyson Stoner is a hit! Hillary Duff is great. So are Tom Welling and Ashton Kutcher. Awsome for the whole family. I bet all your children can relate to one of the Baker's. I can relate to Sarah the twelve-year-old troublemaker (Alyson Stoner) because I'm 12 and am a mastermind at spy stuff. A hit for the family and oh so much better than the original! Must have!
Rating:
Summary: Pretty lame, but fun enough
Review: It 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.
Rating: 
Summary: If it ain't broke...
Review: don't remake it. This is the latest in a long line of really pathetic attempts to modernize some very good film classics. As in the destruction of the "Father of the Bride" movies, this one is inane and completely misses the point and the humor of the original. I really wish Steve Martin would go back to walking around with an arrow through his head. He was much funnier then.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable!
Review: Ok, to start off, THIS IS NOT GONNA BE ONE OF THOSE MOVIES THAT YOU ARE GONNA BE LIKE "Oh that was the greatest!" but, it's definately fun and heart-warming. The humor pretty much comes from the chaos the kids cause which isn't really a bad thing. The plot line: a simple big family moves away and life starts to suck and then a happy ending. One thing I really like about the movie is the actors and characters. Each child portrays a different type of person/child, so anyone could probably find a child that they can relate to: the jock, the girl who cares a lot about her looks, the "left out" child, the tomboy, the chuby of them all, troublemakers, twins and a couple more. Another good thing is that I can totally relate to some kids. They don't like to do chores: what kid does? There are always fights of stupid things. Come on, we all know those moments in our houses with siblings and parents. The bottom line is: its fun. Don't watch it with huge expectations--just chill.
Rating:
Summary: Comes at a dime a dozen
Review: I'll say it up front, I could give or take Steve Martin. He's gotten less and less funny over the years, and it's a crime to film-making that he's going to be reprising Peter Sellers's (God Rest His Soul) role as Inspector Closeau in the new Pink Panther movie. He's trying too hard with the slapstick. That can be plainly seen in "Cheaper By The Dozen". I saw this in the theaters, and it felt like old-fashioned peanut butter: It goes down OK, but leaves kind of a bland and uncomfortable taste in your mouth. First of all, the story tells of Kate and Tom Baker (Bonnie Hunt and Steve Martin) who have a family of twelve kids in a little town outside of Chicago. Tom is a Division III football coach and comes from a family of seven. Kate is an aspiring writer, an only child, who's trying to get her autobiography published, all while taking care of (or do the kids take care of them) twelve kids. Soon, Tom gets a job offer in Chicago, and Kate's successful book causes her to go on tour. They decide to move the family to Chicago where madness ensues. Sounds OK, right? However, it feels a little uncomfortable and stereotypical that the family lives in a farm house, and while having twelve kids is definitely a rarity in today's society, they could've gone with the house being more modern, even in a small town. Bonnie Hunt doesn't help at all in taking care of the kids. Speaking of, they're very unlikeable as well, especially Alyson Stoner, aka the kid with the frog cap. As the ringleader of all the mishaps, she comes off as a complete and total brat, even in the most sentimental of the movie's sequences. With all the celebrities playing kids, it feels more like a big publicity stunt than anything else. Anyways, when they move to the city, the movie becomes a John Hughes knock-off. The neighbors are incredibly snot-faced and air-headed, and oh look! It's Steve Martin dangling from a chandelier! Yay! Like we didn't see that in, how many "Home Alone" movies are there, like six? Now, I'm not canning this movie completely. It's still got its moments. The overly-sheltered kid next door (Stephen Anthony Lawrence, aka Beans from "Even Stevens") is hilarious as always. Ashton Kutcher is great as well, as oldest sibling Piper Perabo's prima-donna boyfriend. Speaking of, her character is unrealistic too. No way the oldest kid is as spoiled and snooty as she is. The film does have a good message: family comes first, but that can be found in dozens of other movies about big families, particularly "Homecoming" and "Little Women". Overall, though, "Cheaper by the Dozen" won't kill you, but it's only good for a rental at best. FINAL SCORE-6/10
Rating:
Summary: Not the Original, but a lot of fun anyway
Review: If you're expecting a remake of the 1950s classic movie of the same name, you'll be disappointed. This movie, also about a family of 12 children, hints that the family might be descended from the original Gilbreths, but the likeness ends there. Tom Baker (Steve Martin) is a college football coach who grew up with seven siblings and always wanted a big family. His wife, Mary, (Bonnie Hunt) had decided the same as a lonely child who lost her only sibling. After 23 years of marriage and 12 kids (2 sets of twins), the family lives a comfortable, if challenging, life in a small town. When Tom is offered his dream job and decides to move the family to a new life in a big town, the kids are very disappointed. Life in the big city, especially school, is definitely a challenge for the kids. On top of that, their Dad is much busier with work than before and the mom is invited to New York to help promote her soon-to-be-published book about her family. The humor of the story (often slapstick) comes from poking fun at the chaos of family life, the varying personalities of (admittedly somewhat caricatured) kids, the "mellowness" in rules of decorum that can be a part of big families (I thought the indoor hockey scenes were hilarious) and a well-meaning "guy's attempt" to do a woman's job. While some of the jokes were pretty dumb (e.g. "Pasta de la Crotch") and I might have preferred a few scenes to be more friendly for family viewing (the oldest girl is living with her boyfriend, to the chagrin of the parents), there were a number of things I really liked about this movie: 1. Avoiding Stereotypes: Some people need to get a life. In the 21st century we ought to be open-minded enough to handle the idea that some perfectly sane people wish to share their lives with more than one or two children. This movie portrays a (very)large family as a little different, but happy. 2. It's so not "Leave it to Beaver": The parents and kids in this movie aren't made out to be squeaky clean or have halos around their heads. They feel like real people who complain, make mistakes and argue with each other sometimes, but know how to get back on track when things get tough. 3. The Mom is cool, smart and confident - and a stay-at-home mom. This doesn't denigrate working moms in the least, but it's nice to see someone in Hollywood put a positive spin on this for once! There can be more to life and fulfillment than being the breadwinner of the family. While some jokes fall a little short and not everyone will appreciate the sometimes over-the-top humor, some moments are completely priceless. The preschool-age twins are perfect and when the kids gang up to take down the oldest girl's boyfriend (Ashton Kutcher is excellent here) the set-up is classic and unforgetable (I thought that the meat-scented underwear scene was anti-climactic and unnecessary after the memorable pool scene).
Rating:
Summary: Please Make It Stop
Review: This rates as possibly the very worst film I have ever seen. Non-stop cliched gross-out gags made me want to poke my eyes out within five minutes. The movie basically only sent the message that if kids are bratty enough, they can manipulate their parents into doing anything.
The characters, unfortunately even including the father played by Steve Martin, were entirely one-dimensional and totally unendearing. I only wish that I could rate this a fraction of a star on this review scale.
If you really want your kids to come away with impressions of family values or moral lessons, check out Pollyanna (Hayley Mills) or the Anne of Green Gables series. Something like The Music Man, either the Robert Preston or Matthew Broderick version, would be more fun and less mind-numbing for any audience than this. Save your money, time, and brain cells by giving this one a wide pass.
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