Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

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

Director:

Shawn Levy

Writers:

Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. (novel), Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (novel),

Stars:

Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Piper Perabo

2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

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 G. 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	...	Nigel Baker
Shane Kinsman	...	Kyle Baker
Paula Marshall	...	Tina Shenk

Storyline

The Bakers, a family of 12, move from small-town Illinois to the big city after Tom Baker gets his dream job to coach his alma mater's football team. Meanwhile, his wife 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.

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Plot Keywords:

house | illinois | new job | hiding in a closet | interview | 

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Taglines:

This Christmas The More... The Scarier!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language and some thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [de]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Im Dutzend billiger

Filming Locations:

357 S. Lorraine Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$752,096 (France) (16 April 2004)

Gross:

$138,614,544 (USA) (4 June 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Robert Simonds Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 94 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the beginning of the movie, Kate reveals the title of her new book to be "Cheaper By The Dozen". Although this movie is loosely based on a book by that title about a real-life family, the book was written by one of the sons, Frank B. Gilbreth Jr., along with his sister, Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. Although this film is based on that same book that inspired the 1950 film (Cheaper by the Dozen), the only element it retains from the original is the idea of there being 12 children in one family. Even the names of the characters are changed.

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Goofs

One may question how Mark was able to board the Amtrak train without meeting the age requirement to have purchased a ticket. It is a common practice of Amtrak conductors to make their rounds taking tickets several minutes after the train has left the station, so he could have boarded and found a seat with no question.

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Quotes

Charlie: Did I mention I don't like you very much?
Tom: Yeah, you mentioned that.
Charlie: Then I'm good.

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Crazy Credits

Over the first part of the credits, we see outtakes.

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Connections

Referenced in Charmed: Cheaper by the Coven (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi: 'O Fortuna' from Carmina Burana"
Written by Carl Orff
Performed by Orchestre symphonique de Montreal
Courtesy of Decca Music Group Ltd.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Dozen do it for me

Let's see if this film has all the necessaries of a modern film.

1) Classic title 2) Dad is an idiot 3) New script bearing no resemblance to the original. 4) Male lead cannot droll without instructions from female 5) Children are out of control 6) The man is incurably stupid 7) Mother is a wise saint 8) Father has no clue about his own home (have I covered that already??) 9) Large families result from irresponsibility

I saw and loved the original. I held no illusions that this would be nearly as good. In fact I knew it would require some updates. The world of the 1950s when the original was made and the 1920s when it was set are dramatically different.

The story is weak, the comedy is poor, the new plot is bigoted.

In the original, Clifton Webb play an efficiency expert Frank Gilbreth. In fact, Frank Gilbreth's principles are still taught in course on efficiency in industry. He was a real person. And a competent one. His son John Kenneth Gilbreth, went on to become one of the world's leading economists. To this very day.

In this one, Frank Baker (Baker's dozen ... get it? Hit me over the head with a joke why doncha?) is a small time football coach who is so inefficient that he can't get breakfast on the table and wipe up a spill at the same time. And it's hard to imagine his wanna be drop out son becoming anything but a bum.

The scene from the original where the woman from Planned Parenthood came to the door to humorous results was morphed into the yuppy neighbors, the Shenks, essentially scolding anyone who has or wants more than two kids. Tina is so obsessed with having only one that Bill is portray as sexually frustrated ... he ain't getting none lest she conceive again.

I grew up in a family of 13. While my Dad was not the modern hands on type, he was aware of where things were and how things worked. He could cook and do the laundry and get us off to school on time. And he worked hard to be able to pay for us all to go to Catholic school. He had to be efficient; every 18 months or so, Mom was squeezing out another sib.

We were well behaved. We had to be. If not, 13 children turn into the unruly mob shown in this stupid film. I knew other families like ours. From nine to fifteen kids. They were all self disciplined families. I cannot tell you how many people, my sister-in-law included, who have asked me if it was "that way in your house." People came out of this movie thinking that large families are rude and out of control.