Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film)
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| Cheaper by the Dozen | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Shawn Levy |
| Produced by | |
| Screenplay by | |
| Story by | Craig Titley |
| Based on | Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. Ernestine Gilbreth Carey |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Bonnie Hunt |
| Music by | Christophe Beck |
| Cinematography | Jonathan Brown |
| Edited by | George Folsey, Jr. |
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Production
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million |
| Box office | $190.2 million[1] |
Contents
Plot
Tom Baker is a football coach at Lincoln College, a small rural college near Midland City, Illinois . He met his future wife, Kate at Illinois Poly Tech, and together, they gave birth to 12 children (Nora, Charlie, Lorraine, Henry, Sarah, Jake, Mark, fraternal twins Jessica and Kim, Mike, and identical twins Kyle and Nigel). In her narration, Kate has written her story into a book and hopes to send it to her friend to publish the book. Meanwhile, Tom unexpectedly receives an offer from his old friend and football teammate, Shake McGuire, to coach at his alma mater in his hometown of Evanston, Illinois. Tom accepts the offer, and he and Kate begin making plans on returning to Evanston. The kids find out and demand the move be put to a vote, even though Tom says it would not have any power. He loses the vote, even after he and Kate decide to join, but goes ahead with the move anyway, claiming there will be more money and that they will be a "happier and stronger family". The atmosphere at the Bakers' new house is tense and the situation at school is even worse.Later, the Bakers meet their next-door neighbors, the Shenk family--which consists of Bill, Tina, and their son, Dylan. After a series of mishaps, Dylan invites the younger kids to his birthday party. Shortly afterwards, Kate tells Tom that she is leaving on her book tour now that her book is ready for publication, leaving Tom to take charge of the kids. Tom decides to hire the family's oldest child, Nora, and her self-absorbed boyfriend, Hank, to help him with the other children. The younger kids soak Hank's boxers in meat, and unleash the family dog, Gunner, on him. After Nora storms out with Hank, Tom scolds the younger kids for their naughty prank.
Kate departs for her book tour and Tom realizes that he cannot handle the children on his own after a chaotic night. In reply to this revelation, Tom tries to hire a housekeeper or nanny, but nobody is willing to work with a family as large as the Bakers. The children start causing trouble at school, so Tom decides to bring the football players he coaches into the family's house for game practice while the children perform chores and their household games. When things get completely out of control, Tom grounds the kids from attending Dylan's birthday party. While Tom's back is turned, the kids sneak out to attend the party anyway.
At Dylan's party, Jake tells Mike to go get the football they got for Dylan so they can play with it. When he does, he knocks some of the presents over, and the Brazilian mud viper they also got for him escapes. The resulting panic causes Tom to realize the kids had disappeared, and decide to enlist all the players to round them up. Tom tries to remove Sarah from the bounce house, but during the chaos, a helium tank falls on the bounce house, causing it to overinflate, then explode, sending Tom and several kids flying through the air. While the football players successfully catch Sarah and the other kids, Tom accidentally lands on top of Dylan, breaking his arm and he is taken to the hospital.
Kate overhears from the children about the chaos and cancels the book tour to take charge of the situation. Kate's publisher decides to create an additional promotion for her book by inviting Oprah Winfrey to tape a segment about the Bakers in their home instead. Despite much coaching from Kate, the Bakers are not able to demonstrate the loving, strongly bonded family that Kate described in her book. When Mark becomes upset that his pet frog has died, a heated fight erupts moments before the segment starts, leading the cameramen to tell Winfrey to cancel it. Mark runs away from home, prompting the Bakers to find him. During the search, Tom indulges a hunch that Mark is trying to run back to the Bakers' old home, and eventually finds Mark on an Amtrak train departing from Evanston to Midland. Reuniting with the rest of their family, the Bakers begin to address their issues with each other. Tom ultimately step down from his position at his alma mater with Shake. The film ends when Kate narrates that family become stronger and closer together.
Cast
The parents |
- Steve Martin as Tom Baker, the father
- Bonnie Hunt as Kate Baker, the mother
The children
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Others |
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Sequel
A sequel, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, was released in the United States on December 21, 2005.Soundtrack
| "Cheaper by the Dozen" Soundtrack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performed by | Length |
| 1. | "I'm Just a Kid" | Simple Plan | Simple Plan | 1:24 |
| 2. | "Help!" | Lennon–McCartney | The Beatles | 1:12 |
| 3. | "In Too Deep" | Sum 41 | Sum 41 | 2:46 |
| 4. | "What Christmas Should Be" | Hilary Duff | Hilary Duff | 3:10 |
| 5. | "Life Is a Highway" | Tom Cochrane | Tom Cochrane | 4:26 |
| 6. | "These Are Days" | 10,000 Maniacs | 10,000 Maniacs | 3:39 |
| 7. | "Rockin' Robin" | Leon René | Michael Jackson | 2:33 |
| 8. | "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" | Johnny Marks | Brenda Lee | 2:06 |
Reception
Critical reception
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 24% approval rating based on reviews from 118 critics, with an average score of 4.5 out of 10, and the site's consensus reading: "In this family of twelve children, much chaos ensues, but little hilarity."[2] On Metacritic, which determines a normalized rating from mainstream critics, the film received a score of 46 out of 100 based on 30 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[3] Despite initial reactions, the film was given "Two Thumbs Up" from Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper on their television show, and became a box office hit. The film opened at #2 ranking in US$27,557,647 in its first opening weekend and, despite being kept from the top spot by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, went on to gross $190,212,113 worldwide.[1] Ashton Kutcher was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor for his performance in this, Just Married, and My Boss’s Daughter.[citation needed]Awards and nominations
| Association | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kid's Choice Awards | Favorite Male Movie Star | Ashton Kutcher | Nominated | |
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie: Blush | Hilary Duff | Nominated | |
| Choice Breakout Movie Star – Male | Tom Welling | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Liplock | Piper Perabo & Ashton Kutcher | Nominated | ||
| Young Artist Awards | Best Young Ensemble Cast | Cast (under 18) | Won | |
| Best Young Actor Age Ten or Younger | Forrest Landis | Won | ||
| Best Young Actress Age Ten or Younger | Alyson Stoner | Nominated | ||
| Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Actor | Ashton Kutcher | Nominated |
Home media
The film was released on VHS and DVD on April 6, 2004.[citation needed]References
- "Cheaper by the Dozen". Metacritic. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film) |
- "Official Website". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
- Cheaper by the Dozen on IMDb
- Cheaper by the Dozen at Rotten Tomatoes
- Cheaper by the Dozen at AllMovie
- Movie stills
Categories:
- 2003 films
- English-language films
- 2000s comedy films
- 20th Century Fox films
- American comedy films
- American film remakes
- American films
- Fictional duodecets
- Films about dysfunctional families
- Films directed by Shawn Levy
- Films produced by Michael Barnathan
- Films scored by Christophe Beck
- Films set in Illinois
- Screenplays by Alec Sokolow
- Screenplays by Joel Cohen
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