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"Expect to see a
lot of this in this
movie." |
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Directed by Shawn Levy -
Written by Sam Harper,
Joe Cohen and Alec
Sokolow
Starring Steve Martin,
Bonnie Hunt, Piper
Perabo, Hillary Duff,
Ashton Kutchner
Distributed by FOX -
2003 - 98 mins - Rated
PG |
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Steve Martin sells out...but still manages to land on his feet... |
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I
walked into "Cheaper by the Dozen" absolutely convinced that I was
going to hate it, but someone else was buying, so if I lost anything,
it would time, not money. I left the film pleasantly surprised. While
it is by no means a good movie, it was much better than I thought it
would be.
Although it is supposedly based on the 1950 movie and book, the new
version is nothing like either of those. The previous version was
about a husband and wife who use their twelve children to conduct
experiments in time efficiency. This version, is just about the
parents dealing with the chaos of a dozen children.
Steve Martin is the father and Bonnie Hunt the mother. Both are very
talented (but of course you know that) and make their characters
likable enough. Some of the kids include the talented (but limited)
Hilary Duff as the dumb blonde, and the always lovely (but here
underused) Piper Perabo, as the oldest and grown up daughter. The rest
of the kids are basic newcomers, but very few of them stand out.
That's where the film hits it's first bump: there are so many kids
that we never really get to know more than four of them, and
therefore, when something happens, we feel absolutely nothing. There
are some fun small roles, including a surprisingly funny role by
Ashton Kutchner, and a running gag cameo with Wayne Knight (who has
lost a lot of weight, by the way).
The humor is aimed at children, but enough of it is funny for adults,
so the older folks will never be bored. I was surprised at the lack of
burp and fart jokes as well (although there is a rather disgusting
vomit gag). Most of the humor is "Home Alone"-esque cartoonish
violence. Some of it is actually very funny (Martin has always had
impeccable comic timing) but quite a bit falls flat on it's face (the
writer's faults).
Despite these faults, I cannot give this movie a really low grade. I
was never bored, and it gave me a few laughs. "Cheaper by the Dozen"
never tries to be a great film. It tries to, and succeeds, to be a
great film for kids, and a tolerable one for adults.
Don't see this by yourself, but it you have kids or a nephew or niece,
this is the film to take them to. |
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© Written by Jacob Hall |
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Richard
Propes' Comment
I
can't help but think this is the type of film
that should be watched right after you've lost
your job. It requires little energy to watch,
almost no thought and doesn't really tax the
emotions. In other words, it's a lightweight,
gentle comedy.
Steve Martin is a master at these sorts of
films, and we keep going to them. It's sort of
like the Eddie Murphy syndrome...I mean,
seriously, when was the last time he made a
great film? Yet, the public generally loves his
family oriented fare anyway. This film is far
from masterful...there's really nothing about it
that excels, but I enjoyed it anyway.
Martin and Bonnie Hunt made a nice pair, and the
12 children generally were passable. They
weren't really challenged in the dot-to-dot
plot, but this wasn't meant to be a challenging
film.
In smaller roles, Ashton Kutcher and Wayne
Knight do a nice job here. Knight should be the
Trimspa spokesman...boy, he's looking mighty
healthy here.
This film...well, it's really nothing special
but it really cheered me up on a challenging
day...for that, I rate it slightly above
average.
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