Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is a 2005 American familycomedy film produced by 20th Century Fox. It is the sequel to the family comedy filmCheaper by the Dozen (2003). Shawn Levy, the director of the first film, did not return as director for this one, which was instead directed by Adam Shankman (The Pacifier). Levy was a producer of it and made an appearance as a hospital intern in it. Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo, Alyson Stoner, and Tom Welling reprise their roles as members of the twelve-child Baker family. Eugene Levy co-stars as the patriarch of a rival family of eight children. Carmen Electra portrays his wife.

• 2Cast
• 4Reception

Plot[edit]

Three years after Tom Baker resigned from his head coaching position, his family begins to undergo many changes, beginning with Lorraine and her desire to study in New York after her high school graduation. Their oldest daughter, Nora, is now married to Bud McNulty and heavily pregnant with their first child. They intend to move to Houston because of his new job promotion.

Feeling the family is breaking apart as the children grow up and move away, Tom persuades them to take one last family vacation all together at Lake Winnetka. Tom's old rival, Jimmy Murtaugh, his new wife Sarina, and their large family (with 'only' eight kids) are also there for the summer. Jimmy constantly flaunts his wealth and success to Tom, as well as the accomplishments of his children, often suggesting to Tom that his are less successful because of his parenting style. They get into many incidents, several of which are accidental: Mark Baker, along with Kenny Murtaugh, crashes into a tennis court with a golf cart, Sarah Baker is caught shoplifting in a gift shop, and Mark accidentally sets off a backpack of fireworks, causing widespread panic, especially when it is thrown into a boat, igniting its engine and causing it to explode.

Jimmy again starts the topic that Tom needs to use a firmer hand on his kids. He is angered by this, and they decide to settle the matter at the Annual Labor Day Family Cup. He trains the kids for days, not realizing they are miserable. Sarah and Elliot Murtaugh watch Ice Age together, but are spied on by their fathers, which ultimately results in them getting into an argument and humiliating their children. Upon returning home, Sarah is furious and refuses to compete for Tom in the Cup. The children are angry with him, not only for spying on Sarah, but also for ruining the entire trip through his competitiveness with the Murtaughs, and Kate laments that the two pulling with their parenting has only torn the entire family further apart.

The next morning, Tom goes to the Cup to compete with Nigel and Kyle, the only two still willing to go. However, after discovering an old 'Team Baker' flag, Kate and the rest of the kids show up, showing they forgive him and are willing to compete. After the events, however, the Bakers and the Murtaughs are tied for first; a tiebreaking canoe race is announced, in which every family member must compete. During it, Nora goes into labor; the Murtaughs want to help, but Jimmy, sensing the opportunity to defeat Tom once and for all, refuses to do so. The Murtaugh children jump out of the canoe to help the Bakers. While arguing with Sarina, Jimmy reveals he was jealous of Tom being the popular one when they were younger. Eventually Sarina convinces him to help and the two families work together to get Nora to the hospital. Bud, Lorraine, and Kate go with her in the delivery room, while Tom, Jimmy, Sarina, and the rest of the kids stay in the waiting room. While talking to Jimmy, Tom realizes that he has to let his kids grow, but wherever they go, they will always be with him, and he will always be with them. Nora then gives birth to a baby boy who she and Bud name Tom in honor of his grandfather, who has shown them 'there is no way to be a perfect parent, but a million ways to be a really good one.' Bud announces that they have bought 'The Big House', the vacation home that the Bakers have been renting. Nora, Bud, and baby Tom leave for Houston a few days later.

Cast[edit]

The parents[edit]

• Steve Martin as Tom Baker (the father)
• Bonnie Hunt as Kate Baker, Tom’s wife (the mother)

The children[edit]

• Piper Perabo as Nora Baker, Tom & Kate’s daughter (1st child), Bud's wife, 25 years old
• Tom Welling as Charlie Baker, Tom & Kate’s son (2nd child), 20 years old
• Hilary Duff as Lorraine Baker, Tom & Kate’s daughter (3rd child), 18 years old
• Kevin G. Schmidt as Henry Baker, Tom & Kate’s son (4th child), 15 years old
• Alyson Stoner as Sarah Baker, Tom & Kate’s daughter (5th child), 14 years old
• Jacob Smith as Jake Baker, Tom & Kate’s son (6th child), 13 years old
• Forrest Landis as Mark Baker, Tom & Kate’s son (7th child), 12 years old
• Liliana Mumy as Jessica Baker, Tom & Kate's twin daughter (8th child), Kim's fraternal twin, 10 years old
• Morgan York as Kim Baker, Tom & Kate's twin daughter (9th child), Jessica's fraternal twin, 10 years old
• Blake Woodruff as Mike Baker, Tom & Kate’s son (10th child), 9 years old
• Brent Kinsman as Kyle Baker, Tom & Kate's twin son (11th child), Nigel's identical twin, 8 years old
• Shane Kinsman as Nigel Baker, Tom & Kate's twin son (12th child), Kyle's identical twin, 8 years old

Others[edit]

• Jonathan Bennett as Bud McNulty, Nora’s husband and Tom’s father
• Eugene Levy as Jimmy Murtaugh
• Carmen Electra as Sarina Murtaugh, Jimmy’s 3rd wife
• Shawn Roberts as Calvin Murtaugh, Jimmy’s son and Sarina’s stepson (1st child)
• Robbie Amell as Daniel Murtaugh, Jimmy’s son and Sarina’s stepson (2nd child)
• Jaime King as Anne Murtaugh, Jimmy’s daughter and Sarina’s stepdaughter (3rd child)
• Melanie Tonello as Becky Murtaugh, Jimmy’s daughter and Sarina’s stepdaughter (4th child)
• Taylor Lautner as Elliot Murtaugh, Jimmy’s son and Sarina’s stepson (5th child)
• Courtney Fitzpatrick as Lisa Murtaugh, Jimmy’s daughter and Sarina’s stepdaughter (6th child) and Robin’s twin sister
• Madison Fitzpatrick as Robin Murtaugh, Jimmy’s daughter and Sarina’s stepdaughter (7th child) and Lisa’s twin sister
• Alexander Conti as Kenneth Murtaugh, Jimmy’s son and Sarina’s stepson (8th child)
• Peter Keleghan as Mike
• Ben Falcone and Kathryn Joosten as theater patrons
• Director Adam Shankman (cameo) as the Clam Bake Chef
• Producer Shawn Levy cameos as a hospital intern.

Soundtrack[edit]

1. 'I Wish' – Stevie Wonder
2. 'Graduation Day Song' – Joseph L. Altruda
3. 'Mexicali Mondays' – Christopher Lightbody and Robert Steinmiller
4. 'What If' – Gina Rene
5. 'Martini Lounge' – David Sparkman
6. 'Drinks on the House' – Daniel May
7. 'Big Sky Lullaby' – Daniel May
8. 'Someday' – Sugar Ray
9. 'Express Yourself' – Jason Mraz
10. 'Michael Finnegan' – Traditional
11. 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken?' – Traditional
12. 'Why Can't We Be Friends' – War
13. 'Die Walküre' – Richard Wagner
14. 'Theme from Jaws' – John Williams
15. 'Miracles' - Insane Clown Posse
16. 'Mallin' – Tree Adams
17. 'Under Pressure' – Queen and David Bowie
18. 'Music from Ice Age' – David Newman
19. 'Holiday' – Madonna
20. 'Sunday Morning' (acoustic version) – Maroon 5
21. 'Bridal Chorus' – Richard Wagner

Reception[edit]

Critical response[edit]

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes ranked Cheaper by the Dozen 2 98th in the 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s. It has a rating of 6% based on 93 reviews of the film.^[3] The site's consensus reads: 'A sequel to a remake, Cheaper 2 wastes its solid cast in scenes of over-the-top, predictable humor'.^[4] On Metacritic, it has a score of 34 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating 'generally unfavorable reviews'.^[5]

Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert, gave the film one of its rare positive reviews, awarding it 3/4 stars and stating 'As I watched this sequel, a certain good feeling began to make itself known. Yes, the movie is unnecessary. However, it is unnecessary at a higher level of warmth and humor than the recent remake Yours, Mine, and Ours.' Ebert also highly praised Alyson Stoner's performance, favorably comparing the then-twelve year old actress to Reese Witherspoon.^[6]

Calling the overall film 'bland', Variety's Justin Chang agreed with Ebert on Stoner, calling her 'an endearingly vulnerable standout' and deeming her subplot to be 'the most engaging' in it. Chang was also kind to Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt and Eugene Levy, deeming the veteran actors did the best with what was given to them.^[7] Marrit Ingman of the Austin Chronicle conceded that it had a good message, and agreed that Hunt was 'marvelous and down-to-earth' but ultimately felt that 'the rest of the movie is as funny as mildew', found that 'the product placement is particularly egregious' and thought that Hilary Duff looked 'as tanned and raw as buffalo jerky'.^[8] Andrea Gronvall was also horrified by Duff's appearance while writing for the Chicago Reader, calling her 'haggard' and 'flat-out scary', and overall felt that there was 'a discernible lack of enthusiasm from almost everyone involved', however singling out Carmen Electra for being 'the most winning performer of the bunch'.^[9]

The film received two Razzie Award nominations including Worst Actress (Hilary Duff) and Worst Supporting Actor (Eugene Levy).^{[citation needed]}

Box office[edit]

The film grossed $9,309,387 million opening weekend, finishing in 4th place at the box office. By the end of its run, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 grossed $82,571,173 domestically and $46,610,657 internationally, totaling $129,181,830 worldwide. It is one of only twelve feature films to be released in over 3,000 theaters and still improve on its box office performance in its second weekend, increasing 55.6% from $9,309,387 to $14,486,519.^[10]

Home media[edit]

The DVD was released on May 23, 2006.^[2] The Blu-ray was released on January 5, 2010. The DVD is two-sided and side B has an inside look previews of Flicka and Aquamarine.^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abc'Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005)'. AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
2. ^ ^abc'Cheaper by the Dozen 2 - Box Office Data'. The Numbers. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
3. ^'The Worst of the Worst Pictures'. Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
4. ^'Cheaper by the Dozen 2'. Rotten Tomatoes.
5. ^'Cheaper by the Dozen 2'. Metacritic.
6. ^Ebert, Roger (20 December 2005). 'Cheaper by the Dozen 2 Movie Review (2005)'. Roger Ebert. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
7. ^Chang, Justin (21 December 2005). 'Review: 'Cheaper by the Dozen 2''. Variety. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
8. ^Ingman, Marrit (23 December 2005). 'Film Review: Cheaper by the Dozen 2'. Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
9. ^Gronvall, Andrea (December 2005). 'Cheaper by the Dozen 2'. Chicago Reader. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
10. ^'Smallest Second Weekend Drops'. boxofficemojo.com. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 27, 2014.

External links[edit]

• Cheaper by the Dozen 2 on IMDb
• Cheaper by the Dozen 2 at AllMovie
• Cheaper by the Dozen 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Cheaper by the Dozen 2 at Box Office Mojo