Il ritorno della scatenata dozzina

I never saw Cheaper by the Dozen (the 2003 surprise hit), and I don't think you have to see it so get all you can out of the sequel. That is to say, there is little to get out of it, so don't waste your time "preparing" for it. Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is a formulaic family comedy where Steve Martin becomes a father possessed with a drive to outdo another father, only to be reminded that his family will still love him no matter if they win the big movie-contrived competition or not. Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and his wife, Kate (Bonnie Hunt) begin the movie by attending their daughter's graduation ceremony with his 11 other kids. Lorraine's graduation (Hilary Duff, no singing this time) motivates Tom to start thinking about how the family is moving apart from the customary tight-knit group he remembers, so he wants to take the family on one last vacation. So they load up the cars and vans and head out to some lake somewhere in the Midwest (or Canada, depending on the film's budget), a lake that has seen the evil Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy) buy up all of the land and build super lake homes on the shore. Jimmy and Tom have a history, one that is sort of dumb and is one of those back stories that can only be written for a story like this one. I really like Eugene Levy as a comedic actor, but I don't think he was right for this role. Levy excels in understated humor, where his character has no idea he's being funny. The role of Jimmy is over-the-top and cliché and I didn't think he fit the role well at all. Carmen Electra plays Jimmy's wife, and she's actually very good at playing the bimbo wife when given the chance, and the kid actors are generally good as well. The story is predictable and only mildly entertaining, but I guess families will enjoy the night out and there is a certain sweet charm to the final scenes of the film.

Tom and Kate (Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt) decide to take the whole family on a summer vacation to Lake Winnetka, but it soon turns into a competition between their family and that of Tom's arch-rival Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy).

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is a harmless and bland sequel. It offers a few laughs but not enough to sustain its running time. The original film was an okay family film, nothing special. The sequel is more or less the same and it also makes for a decent family film. I was expecting a little more though. There are a few interesting subplots but the main premise is very silly. I know it's a family movie and all but why did the story have to be so generic? Since the script is weak there is a lack of character development, the film is kind of boring. There are a few funny gags and performances but they aren't good enough to save the movie.

The acting is okay and only a couple people give good performances. The best performance is given by Alyson Stoner. Her character goes through the most development and she handles it pretty well. Liliana Mumy and Morgan York also give good performances though they don't get a lot of screen time. The strength of the comedy should have been the rivalry between Steve Martin and Eugene Levy. Levy is only mildly funny while Steve Martin is not funny at all. He just tries too hard and it comes off as annoying. Bonnie Hunt gives a decent performance and she has a few funny lines. Hilary Duff gives an annoying performance as Lorraine and she's hardly in the film, which is a good thing. Carmen Electra makes for good eye candy but she doesn't do anything special. Piper Perabo and Jamie King both give decent performances. Tom Welling just gives a bland performance while Jonathon Bennett only has a few lines and his character is not developed at all.

Director Adam Shankman only does an okay job behind the camera. I like the way he captures the Baker family and their love for one another. There are some nice moments in the movie about family values and the ending is pretty nice. Besides for that, he just keeps the film bland and uninteresting while leaving out some of the Baker kids. On the one hand, I wanted the film to be longer than 90 minutes so all the characters could have been portrayed well. On the other hand, if they had kept the same story and made the film longer then the movie would have been unbearable. On a last note, compared to Yours, Mine and Ours, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 looks like a masterpiece. In the end, the movie is only average but it should make for a nice rental if you're looking for a family film. Rating 5/10

This movie is as stereotypical as a family comedy can get in fact we have seen so many similar roles from Steve Martin in family comedies that one cannot honestly expect much from such films and indeed i went into this movie(as the company demanded i see a pg rated film) expecting as much.

The good part about the whole thing is that family comedies follow fool proof formulas and as such it is rare to find a bad one. So we have the summer release the 2 hot teens, one hot mom (carmen Electra looked spectacular), the overzealous and protective dad, the childhood romance etc etc you get what I'm saying right.

The acting of this movie is good with special mention for Steve Martin who is a regular comedy dad and even though brings nothing new to the film at least insures you never get bored. Eugene Levy also does a good job playing the eccentric dad of the rival family. Carmen Electra i realised is actually a good actress and looks great in this movie. However former preteen-queen Hilary duff looked way to thin and quite ugly.

The jokes of the film mostly squeaky clean although there is some much appreciated jokes for the adults that are so needed in this film. Particularly funny is the scene where the dog spoils the elaborate lunch, the take on another famous creature movie was hilarious. The film is filled with funny moments that will make you smile maybe force a half laugh but no scene is fall out your seat funny.

The film also serves the regular family fare with ease but almost every scene looks run of the mill and there is nothing new to add to film in the family-comedy-drama department. Being from India i found the father following his child on a date quite funny and something which i can actually picture someone who i know doing.

The movie is absolute run of the mill affair and loosed out on the novelty value that the first one enjoyed. However it serves the regular enjoyable family fare.

Watch it only if the company (family, going with friend and his girl friend for the first movie hehe) requires that you watch such a film.

Cheaper by the Dozen II, like most sequels, wasn't as good as its predecessor but was a safe movie bet, allowing you to fall back into a familiarity of the first and have some more fun with it. It picks up a couple years after the first installment with changes abound as the oldest daughter is now married and pregnant and with everyone growing up, the Bakers plan to vacation one last time at their old summer nesting grounds before sending off newly graduated Lurraine (Hillary Duff) to New York. Ashton Kutcher's out of the picture, while Eugene Levy enters the scene as Steve Martin's rival, providing some decent comic relief. Knowing full-well, they can't focus on all twelve kids, Tom Welling's newfound romance and rebelliousness are underdeveloped, while the unfortunate mistake is made of shifting the focus to Hillary Duff's character. Duff basically plays a caricature of herself (or at least her public image) as a teenage diva, who only worked in the first movie because she was distilled in small doses. There's also a side story with one of the younger siblings having her first crush. Like the first film, this installment relies on Martin's physical comedy for laughs with some very relatable moments along the way and in the end, the family wins out over all other forces.

'Cheaper by the Dozen 2' is pretty much the typical family comedy that has nothing new to offer. That does not mean that the film is absent of entertainment. It pretty much follows the usual formula with the regular ingredients. The slapstick and jokes are expected but still amusing. There are some funny adult jokes too. The film has heart and that's what works for it. Shankman and his cast and crew must have had a great time (as was also apparent on the DVD extras). Steve Martin and Eugene Levy are good. Martin has played the comedic family dad perhaps more than a dozen times and he has become quite skilled at it. The extremely talented Bonnie Hunt is criminally underused but she has an effective presence, nonetheless. Carmen Electra is a surprise. She plays a hot mom but not the clichéd one, rather one that is compassionate, gentle and caring. Electra does a good job and proves that she can do more than being just an airhead or a seductress. Piper Perabo is also underused. Jaime King is very pretty. Hilary Duff plays sort of a spoilt brat (which is a change from her sweet pretty girl image) but her acting is quite bad and she needs to eat. The child actors were all fun to watch. Overall, it's all goofy family fun and quite enjoyable when watching with the family.