Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director:
Adam Shankman
Cast:
Steve Martin……….Tom Baker
Bonnie Hunt……….Kate Baker
Hilary Duff……….Lorraine Baker
Tom Welling……….Charlie Baker
Eugene Levy……….Jimmy Murtaugh
Carmen Electra……….Sarina Murtaugh
The Movie
Is it possible to create a film aimed at families anymore without grossing them out, insulting their intelligence or disrespecting them on a wholesale level? That’s the premise behind Cheaper by the Dozen 2, a family film that’s shockingly intelligent in how it handles its subject matter.
Steve Martin returns as Tom Baker, football coach and family man. With a dozen children in his clan growing older quickly, he has a revelation as he says his daughter Lorraine (Hilary Duff) graduates from high school. As the children grow up in front of him, he only has nine left in the house and the others soon to depart. He and his wife Katie (Bonnie Hunt) take their children up to Wisconsin from their native Chicago on one last great family vacation, hoping to recapture the memories of family vacations from their past. Complications arise when Tom’s rival Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy), his new wife Sarina (Carmen Elecrta) and Murtaugh’s eight children. It grows increasingly competitive between Jimmy and Tom, former football rivals who want to better each other in everything culminating in an athletic competition between the families over Labor Day. And it’s surprisingly well-written and entertaining family film that just falls short of the line from good to great.
The film’s strength is in its writing; this is probably one of the better family film scripts in some time, as the film’s central theme isn’t the gags but a story about a father who is adapting to having his children grow up. With them getting older Tom is going through a mid-life crisis of sorts; the children are growing up and he’s having a hard time adapting. So are the children, whose growing up independence is conflicting with his parenting instinct. The gags are there and plenty, but the story is at the heart of the film and it makes it much more enjoyable than a number of recent family comedies.
The film functions around one liners and slapstick gags which get tiresome on occasion but the comedy for the most part is good and clean, a rarity in film these days. But what impresses the most are the characters themselves; Sarina could be any number of clichés as a trophy wife, for example, but she’s written as a stepmother who cares about the children and wants to be good for them. Tom, Jimmy and Katie are fully fleshed out and are good parents with good intentions. They are trying to do the best they can and it helps identify with them. The cast is going all out as well, as you can tell the cast had a lot of fun making the film and it translates with the quality of their performances. This isn’t an acting movie but it’s filled with a number of quality performances. With veteran comedic actors in Levy, Martin and Hunt on board the cast raise their level to match them.
Overall it’s a quality viewing experience and filled with some good laughs for the whole family.
Score : 8 / 10
The Video
Presented in a widescreen format with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, the film looks great. There is a lot of color and nature shots that are used and they look wonderful. The colors are clear and separated well.
The Audio
Presented in a 5.1 Surround Sound, the film’s audio is good but isn’t as good as the video component. The sounds are not separated as clearly as they could be, not developing the full use of the 5.1.
The Extras
Camp Chaos is a ten minute featurette focusing on the practicality of filming with 20 children on the set. It’s interesting to hear how they got the children to act how they did, as the motto on the set was “have fun or you’re fired” and the children responded in kind. It’s interesting to hear Director Adam Shankman, Hunt, Electra, Levy and Martin talk about the children and how fun it was to work with them and feel the warmth in their eyes about working with them. With lots of clips from filming interspersed between cast and crew interviews, it’s easy to see the level of fun involved with the production and how it translated to the film.
A Comedic Trio is a five minute featurette focusing on Bonnie Hunt, Steve Martin and Eugene Levy and their contributions to the film. It’s a lot of fluff about the abilities of the three on occasion, but for the most part it’s interesting to hear the cast talk about working with the three and what they did to keep the film’s production entertaining do the sheer size of the cast under the age of 15.
Commentary by Director Adam Shankman
Score : 3 / 10
