Cheaper By the Dozen 2 (2005)

"The film is supposed to make people feel good about their families, and it does a fine job of it.  Kyle Smith, New York Post

Editor's Note Steve Martin returns as the proud patriarch of the Baker family in this sequel to the original CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, based on a book by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth. This time, all twelve Baker kids and their parents, Tom (Martin) and Kate (Bonnie Hunt), are going on vacation, returning to their summer cabin in Wisconsin for one last hurrah before the kids grow up and go their separate ways. Lorraine (Hilary Duff) is on her way to New York to begin an internship with VOGUE, Nora (Piper Perabo) is hugely pregnant, and the Bakers want to spend some quality time all together for a change. As the family arrives at their old house, however, they realize that some things have changed--and some things never do. Tom's old high school rival, Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy) is now the big man about town, owning much of the surrounding area, and raising his large family in a huge home across the lake from the Bakers'. The longstanding competition between the two families--or at least that of the fathers--mounts over the course of their vacation, as the two men resort to ever nastier tactics of one-upsmanship. Meanwhile, Charlie Baker (Tom Welling) becomes closer with Anne Murtaugh (Jamie King), and Sarah (Alyson Stoner) embarks on her first romance with Eliot Murtaugh (Taylor Lautner). It all comes to a head when the two families face off in a canoeing race, during which they are faced with a decision between loyalty to family and friends, and the competitive edge.

	Bonnie Hunt
	Carmen Electra
	Eugene Levy
	Hilary Duff
	Jaime King
	Piper Perabo
	Steve Martin
	Tom Welling
	Adam Shankman - Director
	John Debney - Original Music By
	Matthew Cassel, et. al. - Editor
	Peter James - Cinematographer
	Sam Harper - Writer
	Shawn Levy, et. al. - Producer

Los Angeles Times
"[A] family comedy that is actually involving, even believable, and manages to be pretty funny too." 12/21/2005 p.E3

Los Angeles Times 7 of 10
"Cheaper by the Dozen 2" proves that less is more - in comparison to the dismal "Yours, Mine & Ours" remake - that the occasional comic calamity works better than nonstop chaos and allows for a family comedy that is actually involving, even believable, and manages to be pretty funny too...Hunt is graciously understated as a wise wife and mother, but what helps lift the film above the usual is the way in which Electra's Sarina is written and played. Despite her spectacular looks, Sarina refuses to be a mere trophy wife, wishes her husband would grow up, wants genuinely to be a good stepmother and asks Hunt's Kate for advice. Electra is delightful: She helps humanize Levy's overbearing Jimmy and thereby gives the film an unexpected dimension. - Kevin Thomas

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
"Cheaper by the Dozen 2" is the kind of title, like "The Other Side of the Mountain," that starts you wondering why they didn't call it "This Side of the Mountain." Or, more to the point, "Even Cheaper by Two Dozen." All sequel titles tell you is that if you liked the doughnuts, why not buy another box? At which your mother would tell you to save some room for dinner, and I would suggest a new movie...The movie is otherwise about what you'd expect. As family movies go, it skews younger than the better "Rumor Has It" and "The Family Stone." It's a lot better than "Yours, Mine and Ours," which has inexplicably grossed more than $45 million... - Roger Ebert