Imagine this: After a long and trying day at work, you come home ready for some rest and relaxation, but rather than hitting up the recliner, you are greeted by the eager arms of your 12 children. This is just another day in the life of Tom Baker.
Steve Martin stars as Baker in the 2004 remake of "Cheaper by the Dozen." Baker is a football coach, loving husband and proud father of a dozen kids. The film also stars Bonnie Hunt, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, Hilary Duff and Ashton Kutcher.
The Baker family lives in a large and crazy house in the country. Tom (Martin) is the head football coach of a local college, while his wife Kate (Hunt) tries to establish some order in their chaotic home. The eldest Baker child, Nora (Perabo), has just moved into the city with her self-absorbed, narcissistic boyfriend, played by Kutcher.
Although they are surviving, the Baker family is by no means living a life of luxury. Their expenditures are on a tight budget and many of the kids are forced to receive hand-me-downs, much to the dismay of Lorraine (Duff). The situation changes drastically when Tom is offered his dream job, serving as the head coach of a major state college team. The promotion comes much to the dismay of his family members, who do not want to leave their hometown. Nevertheless, the Bakers move into a gargantuan house near the university.
Tom is not the only one whose dreams are coming true. Kate finds out that her book of memoirs about raising 12 children is going to be published. However, in order to get the book published, she must go to New York and then go around the country on a book tour. She contemplates leaving the publishing deal because she does not want to leave the children, but Tom tells her that she has to go to New York and that he will take care of the kids.
The busy football schedule and the chaotic home environment soon catch up with Tom, until he nearly loses everything. But that is not nearly the height of it all. He is not the only one with problems. All of the kids feel like outcasts in their new schools and each of them grows to hate living in their new home. Even so, none hate their new surroundings as much as Charlie (Welling). He is made fun of by his football team, his dad is always too busy with work to talk with him and he misses his serious girlfriend back in his hometown.
Of all the actors playing children, Welling is the only one who makes you really like him. He acts with more emotion than any of the other characters. Although all the children have struggles in this movie, his is the one that grabs the audience's attention.
Things in the Baker household continue to deteriorate when they find out that his wife, Kate, is going to be gone longer than anticipated. Tom eventually recruits Nora to come and help get their lives back on track. Nora only agrees when she finds out her boyfriend can come too. As if there weren't already enough people in the house!
The Baker children and Nora's boyfriend soon find themselves in a hilarious war. Things only continue to get crazier while the family grows further and further apart. All this leads to a climactic ending when one of the Baker dozen runs away.
Like many movies he has done, Martin portrays the perturbed head of the household. He's always been a good family man, and "Cheaper by the Dozen" is no exception. He epitomizes everything that is dad in this film and it helps make the movie seem more realistic. When you watch this movie, you really feel for him when things start to fall apart. Martin carries this movie to the extent that had he not been in it, that feeling would just not exist.
Hunt also brings something special to the movie. Like Martin, Hunt plays the part of the parent very well. The audience will see some of their own mothers in Hunt, which helps her to win the hearts of movie-goers.
With the exception of Tom Welling, none of the kids' performances stand out. There's just so much going on around them and so many of them are involved in different parts of the plot that their performances seem to mesh together.
Overall, the movie isn't bad, but by no means is it a masterpiece. Although the movie has been dubbed a comedy, it's not really full of funny scenes. Another disappointment of the film is the fact that Kutcher, who was in every preview and promotional stint surrounding the movie, had only a minor role and was not in the movie for long at all. The movie focuses more on the family breakdown than it does the happy times. In other words, it becomes more emotional than it does funny. But that in itself can be funny.
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