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Cheaper By The Dozen 2
A 20th Century Fox release of a 21 Laps production.
 Produced by Shawn Levy, Ben Myron.
Executive producers, Adam Shankman and Garrett Grant.
Directed by Adam Shankman.
Screenplay by Sam Harper; based on characters created by and the novel by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
Tom Baker — Steve Martin
Jimmy Murtaugh — Eugene Levy
Kate Baker — Bonnie Hunt
Charlie Baker — Tom Welling
Nora Baker-McNulty — Piper Perabo
Sarina Murtaugh — Carmen Electra
Anne Murtaugh — Jaime King
Lorraine Baker — Hilary Duff
Eliot Murtaugh — Taylor Lautner
Sarah Baker — Alyson Stoner
Bud McNulty — Jonathan Bennett
Jake Baker — Jacob Smith
Jessica Baker — Liliana Mumy
Kim Baker — Morgan York
Henry Baker — Kevin G. Schmidt
Mark Baker — Forrest Landis
Camera (Deluxe color, Panavision widescreen), Peter James; editors, Christopher Greenbury, Matthew Cassel; music, John Debney; music supervisor, Buck Damon; production designer, Cary White; art director, Peter Grundy; set decorator, Patricia Cuccia; costume designer, Joseph G. Aulisi; sound (Dolby/DTS), Glen Gauthier; supervising sound editor, John A. Larsen; stunt coordinator, Bob Brown; assistant director, Daniel Silverberg; casting, Monica Swann.
Reviewed at 20th Century Fox Studios, Los Angeles, Dec. 19, 2005.
Rating: PG. Running time: 93 MIN.
Column Rating: Definitely See
Appropriate with children, especially if you can visit with them afterwards about what Hollywood children do and what normal kids can do.
Surprisingly funny with one too many a faux paux for most viewers to come away satisfied. There is a lot of violent mischief, all excused. As is Hollywood's want, a script must follow 'formulas' where there are a few main characters that 'learn' something while you are with them, generally contrasted with some bad guys or at least some conflicts, a climax in which everyone learns the moral of the story—and 'the end.' Thusly, we have our leads, warm and charming Steve Martin and elegantly lovely Bonnie Hunt, who are Mr. and Mrs. Baker. The bad guy, actually, at best the obnoxious guy, Mr. Murtaugh, is played nicely, as this is one of Eugene Levy's usual typecast roles. Mr. Baker engages with Murtaugh in competitive 'Dad' stuff because Murtaugh has always bated him, and Baker is now suffering from a fear of a future empty nest, because three of his twelve children are 'moving on' in their lives. All of it is juvenile. This may, or may not, be a satisfactory reason to do what he does while at their summer digs at Lake Winnetka in Wisconsin, where blue skies and warm weather are what everyone gets in August coming into Labor Day…ask someone from Wisconsin how often this happens.
The Bakers are the good guys, although some parents may not agree, considering what the Baker kids do, which is raise plenty of mischief, all the while back-talking their elders. The Murtaugh kids are the bad guys, cuz they are disciplined, win lots of trophies and medals, and graduate with high honors from high school and ivy league colleges…because Mr. Murtaugh is providing these opportunities in an exaggerated, belligerent elitism.
These two families are obviously polarized because we need the 'conflict' to satisfy the Hollywood scripting formula. Bad parenting is not synonymous with disciplined, well-educated and mannerly children who then must be elitist, egotistical rat-finks, nor is good parenting a label for a laissez faire approach producing bright, fairly well-educated kids that aren't all that good at anything, and are friendly and lovable. Ordinarily, these good and bad qualities show up in all families in some ratio, but this is a movie…so each family takes on their assigned positions. There are some questionable vignettes about locations of tattoos, untrained dogs and a tendency by the Bakers to do, or cause to be done, a level of expensive damage to the Murtaugh property that runs easily in the tens of thousands of dollars—all graciously overlooked by the bad guy, Daddy 'Warbucks' Murtaugh.
Children accompanying you will laugh all the way through the film, and afterwards you can have ice cream and discuss appropriate behaviour for non-Hollywood children. The kids' enthusiasm may stem from the cast of charming children, best of them being young Baker Tomboy Sarah, given real depth by young Alyson Stoner. All of the young actors outshine the adults, as their roles are original and appealing. Bonnie Hunt's lines as Ms. Baker, earn her the do a good job with what you get, as her character gently encourages obtuse Mr. Baker to remember, "The tighter you hold on, the harder they're gonna pull away." That observation will do viewers well to remember as they want to prematurely walk out of the theatre, with or without their young escorts in tow.
Rumor Has It…
A Warner Bros. release presented in association with Village Roadshow Pictures of a Section Eight/Spring Creek production.
 Produced by Paula Weinstein and Ben Cosgrove.
Executive producers, George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Jennifer Fox, Michael Rachmil, Len Amato, Robert Kirby, Bruce Berman.
Co-producer, Frank Capra III.
Directed by Rob Reiner.
Screenplay by T.M. Griffin.
Sarah Huttinger — Jennifer Aniston
Beau Burroughs — Kevin Costner
Katherine Richelieu — Shirley MacLaine
Jeff Daly — Mark Ruffalo
Earl Huttinger — Richard Jenkins
Roger McManus — Christopher McDonald
Scott — Steve Sandvoss
Annie Huttinger — Mena Suvari
Camera (Technicolor), Peter Deming; editor, Robert Leighton; music, Marc Shaiman; music supervisor, Chris Douridas; production designer, Tom Sanders; art director, Thomas P. Wilkins; set decorator, Jay R. Hart; costume designer, Kym Barrett; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS), Steve Cantamessa; supervising sound editor, Lon Bender; visual effects supervisor, Eric Durst; assistant directors, Capra, Mike Topoozian; casting, Jane Jenkins, Janet Hirshenson.
Reviewed at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Dec. 7, 2005.
Rating: PG-13. Running time: 97 MIN.
Column Rating: Definitely See
Not really appropriate for children for language and innuendo.
Shirley MacLaine is brilliant, bringing a plausible savvy and sophistication to her role as Katherine Richelieu, 'don't call me Gramma' Grandmother to Jennifer Anniston's character Sarah Huttinger. She develops her character into a genuine possible Mrs. Robinson. Her timing is flawless, her delivery immaculate, and she has all the best lines. Especially, in response to Sarah's question of why she feels so out of step with her Pasadena upbringing, 'like' why are they like that? To which Kate says "well, you give a bunch of people everything they want, and leave them alone for a hundred years, and this is what you get." MacLaine's facial expressions are perfect.
 Kevin Costner graciously depicts Beau Burroughs, the questionable man of the past, enduring plenty of innuendos and abuse. Poor Mark Ruffalo, as Sarah's mostly fiancée, Jeff Daly, is woefully underutilized. Richard Jenkins is nearly invisible.
All in all a pleasant, charming movie, with some great efforts in location shoots. And just remember, Anniston's character is feeling out of sorts with herself, unaware of what she wants, not knowing where she is going, and certainly upset that she doesn't even look like her family, let alone feel close to them or 'belong' to the family unit, let alone Pasadena, which in real life has some gorgeous architecture.
Also remember, that if you don't feel like you fit with this movie, it may be because the jumbled script is in such a hurry to sufficiently develop most of the crucial plot lines to allow you to really care about the characters or their troubles. It also may be a bit disturbing to observe how swiftly Sarah goes from 'Are you my father?' to 'I don't really do breakfast, I'll just get a cab.' And if you go to see Mr. Costner, you will wait a half hour before he even comes on screen, but it is worth the wait to watch him doing his breeziest, self-accomplished depiction of a wistful, winsome and wonderfully wealthy bachelor.
Great to see at least once.
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