Steve Martin Juggles Work and Family in Cheaper by the Dozen

I have liked Steve Martin for years and have seen many of his movies. Some have been a bit silly, but Steve Martin is good at being silly. I have enjoyed some of his movies more than others, but I have enjoyed his movies. He makes me laugh. I have been wanting to see Cheaper by the Dozen, his newest movie, since I first saw a preview for it several months ago.

Tom and Kate Baker met in college and fell in love. Tom had grown up as one of eight children, and he wanted to have eight of his own. Kate wanted to have eight too for a different reason. After they first got married, they were living in Chicago. Tom was working as a football coach and Kate was a reporter. She took their first baby, Nora, to work with her, but once they had a few more, that didn’t work out as well. They decided that living in the city wasn’t the best place to raise a large family like thy wanted. They moved to the country where Tom got a coaching job and Kate stayed home with the children. Their plans for eight children were going along fine until Kate had twins the eighth time. They decided they were definitely done then, but other things happened, leading to three more children, two of which were another set of twins. Tom and Kate ended up with four more children than they originally planned to have, but they seemed happy with their family and life.

When they left the city, Tom gave up his dream of being the head coach at the college he went to. He was a football coach, and his team won several championships. One day an old friend, Shake, who was the athletic director for the college where Tom had always wanted to coach. Shake offered Tom the head coach job. It would mean moving the family to Chicago. He and Kate talked and decided to go even though the kids didn’t want to move. Their oldest, Nora, was living in Chicago with her boyfriend Hank. They moved into a huge house with neighbors all around, which was very different from where they lived before. Tina and Bill Shenk, some of the neighbors, came over to welcome Tom and Kate to the neighborhood with their son Dylan. Tina was shocked that they had twelve children and very judgmental. The kids weren’t happy at their new schools. Tom was working a lot more and didn’t see his family as much.

Kate had written a book about raising twelve children. Not long after they moved, she got a call that her book was going to be published and she was needed in New York for a few days. Tom told her that he could handle things at home and she should go. Nora and Hank were going to help Tom until the younger kids did something to Hank. Kate was worried about how things would go since Tom had been working so much, but she did go. Things go out of control around the house in no time. Then Kate called to say that she was supposed to go on a two week book tour. Tom told her that he had everything under control even though he didn’t. The kids felt like Tom was ignoring them because of work. Shake was always on Tom’s case to get back to work. Shake thought that the job was more important than Tom’s family. Things got further out of control and then the children decided to call Kate to tell her what was going on.

CAST

Steve Martin - Tom Baker
Bonnie Hunt - Kate Baker
Piper Perabo - Nora Baker
Tom Welling - Charlie Baker
Hilary Duff - Lorraine Baker
Kevin 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
Alan Ruck - Bill Shenk
Steven Anthony Lawrence - Dylan Shenk
Richard Jenkins - Shake
Ashton Kutcher - Hank

Shawn Levy - Director

Cheaper by the Dozen was released on Christmas day in 2003. The movie was rated PG and 98 minutes long. There was a previous version of this movie made that I never saw. I have no idea how much like the original version this movie was. I don’t remember hearing any swearing in the movie. This is a good movie for families, but I think that younger children may not be as interested in what was going on in the movie.

Cheaper by the Dozen was a funny movie. It did make me laugh a lot. Most of the funny things that happened had to deal with something that was going on with one or several of the children. They did some funny things at times. Some of what they did that made me laugh was a bit silly. At one point, some of the kids were upset that Hank was going to be helping Nora watch them. They didn’t like Hank and didn’t like that he would be able to tell him what to do. So they came up with a plan. The plan had several steps to get to the conclusion they wanted, involving the dog going after Hank. It was a bit crude, but it was funny. Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt said and did several things that made me laugh as well. There were a few more serious moments in the movie too. A few things happened or were said that were a little corny, but that didn’t bother me.

The Baker children were running wild a lot in Cheaper by the Dozen. Nora did live with her boyfriend, so that was one less child actually living in the house, but eleven was enough to cause mayhem. The family also had a dog and a frog. It was usually the nine youngest that was causing the most trouble around the house, though the youngest twins were too young to do as much as some of the other kids. The house always seemed to be in chaos, but it wasn’t as bad when Kate when around. Before she went to New York, the house was fairly organized and neat. Once Tom was the only parent around, things went downhill in a hurry. I am an only child, so I have no idea if the life of a family with that many children was portrayed realistically. I would think that having eleven children would mean that the house would always be somewhat in disarray just from that many people being in it. I also think that having that many kids, especially younger kids, in one house, would make things a bit wild at times. Tom and Nora gave all the kids chores and did keep them in line most of the time. They really weren’t that bad, but having several kids running through the house playing or yelling did make things seem more like crazy. The kids had some disagreements and fights at times, but they didn’t really get violent with each other.

Kate and Tom had been married for twenty three years and they were still in love. They were affectionate with each other. They were shown kissing a few times. Nora was living with her boyfriend Hank. They were shown kissing in a scene or two. That was it for things like that. There were no actual love scenes in the movie and no nudity. Some people could be upset by the fact that Nora and Hank were living together but not married. There really wasn’t anything offensive in the movie. People who have issues with snakes like I do should take into consideration the fact that one makes an appearance. It wasn’t around too much, but it was more than enough for me.

I thought that the acting in Cheaper by the Dozen was good. Steve Martin was funny in many of his scenes. He seemed very believable as a dad about to crack. I also liked Bonnie Hunt in the movie. Her character was calmer and more in control than Tom at times, but she had her funny moments at well. She wasn’t in as much of the movie as Steve Martin though. I thought that the actors playing the kids were fine, but there wasn’t anything that really stood out about any of them. They all were around, especially the younger kids, but they didn’t always have a lot to do. The characters of the kids really weren’t developed at all, and I did have trouble keeping track of who was who at times. Ashton Kutcher had a small part that was uncredited as Nora’s boyfriend Hank. He had very little to do in the movie and was a flat character. Richard Jenkins, the man who played Shake, didn’t have many scenes either and his character was also flat. Jenkins was in Intolerable Cruelty - Intolerable Cruelty earlier this year.

CHARACTERS

Tom Baker - A football coach who had twelve children. He had dreamed of coaching at his former college and took the job when it was offered to him. He loved his family, but started to ignore them once he started his new job. He was trying to juggle too many things so his wife could take advantage of an opportunity.

Kate Baker - Tom’s wife. She had been a reporter before they left the city. Since they she’d been staying at home with their kids. She wrote a book about having twelve children that was published. She was sent on a book tour. That was the first time she’d ever been away from her family and she had trouble adjusting to being away from them.

Nora - Tom and Kate’s oldest daughter. She was living in Chicago with her boyfriend Hank. She said she moved to get away from her family, but she did still love them and went when they needed her.

Hank - A vain actor that Nora was living with. He just started acting and had only been in a few commercials and he thought he was a huge star. He didn’t like Nora’s family and seemed to only care about himself and his things.

Tom - Tom and Kate’s second oldest child. He was on the football team of his old school and had a girlfriend there that he didn’t want to leave. He was very unhappy with the move. He had trouble fitting in his high school.

Lorraine - She was the next oldest child. She didn’t like having to wear Nora’s old clothes. Lorraine was obsessed with fashion and makeup and wanted to always look good.

Tina and Bill - The Baker’s new neighbors. Tina was uptight and strict with their son Dylan. She was very judgmental about the Baker family. Tina was nasty at times.

Shake - College friend of Tom’s. They played football together. Shake gave Tom the college coaching job. Shake thought that the job should come before everything else in Tom’s life.

I did enjoy Cheaper by the Dozen. It had a lot of funny scenes, but some people could think the movie was too silly and even crude in one or two places. Steve Martin was funny in the movie, like he has been in the past, but this role was a little different from some of his others.

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