THIS CHRISTMAS THE MORE… THE SCARIER!

Football coach Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and writer Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt) try to revive their careers while also raising 12 boisterous children. This loose remake of the 1950 Clifton Webb film features a dozen kids and young adults who succeed in connecting with their audience, and two comedians as their “parents” who do what we expect of them. It’s a pleasant, breezy comedy, but it bothers me a little bit how these ungrateful kids force their parents to give up on their dreams. The filmmakers turn that into a happy ending, but is it really? 

2003-U.S. 98 min. Color. Directed by Shawn Levy. Book: Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr., Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. Cast: Steve Martin (Tom Baker), Bonnie Hunt (Kate Baker), Piper Perabo (Nora Baker), Hilary Duff, Tom Welling, Richard Jenkins. Cameo: Ashton Kutcher.

Trivia: Followed by Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005).

IMDb