Cheaper by the Dozen (2003): Dir: Shawn Levy / Cast: Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo, Ashton Kutcher: Wholesome comedy about the cost and struggles of raising a large family. The film stars Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt with background information given how they came to have twelve kids. Martin coaches football and Hunt quit her job at the Chicago Tribune to raise the children. Martin is given the opportunity to coach the team that he has always desired to coach but to do so he must move the family four hours away. Once settled, Hunt is off on a book tour. Although formula in structure and perhaps too many kids to keep track of the conclusion is heart warming. Well directed by Shawn Levy who previously made the dreadful and unfunny Big Fat Liar. Martin and Hunt are terrific thanks to complex roles. They bring realism to the marriage relationship highlighting the struggles. The fact that they become a stronger family unit in the conclusion is predicted. The kids are played by a variety of sorts including Hilary Duff and Piper Perabo among others. Ashton Kutcher is even featured as Perabu's self absorbed boyfriend. The premise becomes the film's weakness when factoring that none of these kids are very interesting. Despite that, there are very amusing moments and a theme stressing that raising a family isn't cheap but it can be rewarding. Score: 6 ½ / 10

I have to say, I can't believe this movie is more than a decade old, almost 12 years old. I'm sure if you watched it, you wouldn't think it looked that old. Yeah, it was made before IPhones came out which are really common devices nowadays. It's hard to imagine living without them now.This movie is a movie that shows Steve Martin as a Dad with 12 kids. In real life, Steve Martin didn't have any children until much later after this movie was made, like a decade after the movie was made. The kids in the movie seem somewhat like normal kids. With all those kids, it's hard to maintain control over his household. It shows something we typically see in a lot of movies of a mom being able to keep control of the kids and household, but a Dad can't. The family in this movie also reminds me of the Heck family from the Middle. I could imagine them being cousins with the Baker family, they'd seem to fit in.This movie is a funny movie, and it shows family life. You'll laugh when you see it. The plot from this movie doesn't seem like a memorable plot. You'll remember it more for showing family life in good times and bad times and seeing Steve as a father figure. He plays his part really well.I still occasionally watch this movie if I'm up for an entertaining movie, as it will keep you entertained. If you're up for a family movie, than this is one to watch. They also came up with a Cheaper By The Dozen 2 and I've seen that movie, but it wasn't that great not really entertaining or worth your time. It just doesn't hold up quite the same as this one does. The 2nd one is more like a family vacation for comedy, and it isn't a family vacation we'd see in films like Grown Ups where that entertains you.I used to really like this movie, especially when it first came out on DVD. I listened to the kids commentary every once in awhile. I used to look at all these IMDb message boards as I remember 10 years ago in 2005, how there were lots of fanfics for this movie and the characters. Some of the fanfics would be horror while others would be just like storytelling. They entertained me. We don't seem to have those fanfics anymore.Well, again I can't believe it's been 12 years since this movie was made. The kids in the movie obviously have aged a lot since the movie was made. Like, they're basically all in their 20s except the older two and younger two. Man, time flies. It's nice to keep memories of earlier times.

My sum up words for this movie are: bucket please! Me and my friend watched this movie, just for a bit of fun. That's two and a half hours of our life that we never got back.This was just disgusting. The only thing worse than the storyboard was the acting. Definitely Steve Martin's worst film. The kids were disgusting little brats, who each didn't get a fair part each in this movie. The mum... yuck! The dad... weird! The kids... disgusting!This movie had many fatal flaws. Here they are: 1. The kids did not get equal parts in this film. 2. There are times when it is rude and offensive. 3. This movie did not make sense. 4. It is a disgrace to the book 'Cheaper By The Dozen'.To conclude my review, it is a definite 1 star performance. If I could give this O stars I would. I definitely do not recommend this movie to you. This resulted in my friend being sick. Hope you're happy, Shawn Levy.

Steve Martin much like Eddie Murphy has had a second lease of life by doing this sort of family comedy fare and actually makes a decent job of playing a father surrounded by 12 very different children.There isn't really that much in the way of plot and many of the children blend into the background with Hillary Duff and Tom Welling being the only standouts and instead this film lets Martin play to his strengths as a big and physical comedian wife on screen wife Bonnie Hunt merely just playing the straight woman to his buffoonery.This film has far more laugh out loud moments than the sequel that followed it and is well worth hunting out to see a good performance from Martin and some nice family entertainment.