In modern America, where the average family has 1.87 children, Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and wife Kate (Bonnie Hunt) have decided that life is better – if not cheaper – by the dozen.
The Bakers live in a small Illinois town where Tom coaches the local college football team. The family’s day-to-day life is marked by equal parts love and chaos…pet-frog-landing-in-the-breakfast eggs type of chaos.
When Tom is offered his dream job – coaching a squad at a large university – he and Kate uproot the family, much to the displeasure of all 12 children. At the same time, Kate learns that her memoirs are about to be published. Her agent whisks her away to New York to promote the book, leaving Tom home alone to handle the increasingly unhappy and hectic household, as well as his demanding new job.
With all hell breaking loose at home, Kate on the road, and Tom’s job on the line, the Baker family ultimately chooses not to have it all, but to love what they do have.
(53 votes)
2.
"Two Thumbs Up!" - Ebert and Roeper This special Baker's Dozen Edition of Cheaper By The Dozen has so many fun-filled extras as the Bakers have kids - and then some! We've included 13 all-new, never-before-seen special features, including an exclusive sneak peak at Cheaper By The Dozen 2! Comedy superstar Steve Martin pairs up with Bonnie Hunt in this hilarious family comedy about two loving parents trying to manage careers and a household amid the chaos of raising twelve rambunctious kids.
(56 votes)
3.
When Tom Baker gets a job offer to coach football at Northwestern University in Chicago, he and his wife, Mary, move to the big city, which is a big change for them and their 12 children, who range from preschool-age twins Kyle and Nigel all the way up to 22-year-old Anne who has already left home. With the recent publication of her long-in-the-works book, Mary feels demands outside the home taking away as much time as Tom's new job does, so the two are forced to try to find new ways of parenting their massive tribe, but they find their parenting styles aren't always completely compatible.
(52 votes)
4.
College sweethearts Tom (Steve Martin) and Kate (Bonnie Hunt) both dreamed of having a huge family and fulfilling careers. But after they had a few kids, Kate gave up her career as a sportswriter, Tom abandoned his hope of becoming the coach of their alma mater's football team, and they moved their brood from the city to the country. Now, after twelve children and a happy life in rural Illinois, Tom has been offered the chance to live his dream and coach the Stallions. No sooner does the family pack up and move to Chicago to pursue Tom's dream job then Kate's ship comes in as well; a publisher has picked up her manuscript based on her experiences raising twelve children. Of course, there's a hitch. Kate has to go to New York for a few days, leaving Tom as the primary care giver for his clan. Can Tom hold it together with his kids--who didn't want to move in the first place--pulling him one way and the university pulling him the other? Shawn Levy directs this likable update of the 1950 film of the same title which was based on a true story.
(54 votes)
5.
Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt corral a wild herd of rampaging children in Cheaper by the Dozen, an enjoyable family flick. When Kate Baker (Hunt) gets a book deal for her chronicle of their abundant family life, she also gets drawn into a book tour--leaving Tom (Martin) to run the house and cope with his new, high-pressure job as a football coach. Naturally, chaos erupts, bringing the family to the brink of meltdown. Cheaper by the Dozen is not a great movie or an important movie or even a surprising movie, but it is a warm-hearted crowd-pleaser. The Bakers' family life is a bit idealised and antiseptic, but anyone looking for an escape from their own less-ideal family lives won't mind. Also featuring Tom Welling, Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo and an uncredited Ashton Kutcher. --Bret Fetzer
(48 votes)
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