CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2 - Blu-ray review

Steve Martin is a wild and crazy guy, but since the successful 1989 film "Parenthood," the former Saturday Night Live popular guest host has become the epitome of the comedic father. Two "Father of the Bride" films, "Bringing Down the House" and now two "Cheaper by the Dozen" films have allowed Martin to monopolize the big family comedy. Robert Reed has nothing on Martin and while the "Brady Bunch" had a houseful, the Baker's dozen is a larger mess of a family. The "Cheaper by the Dozen" franchise takes its name from the 1948 biographical book by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. The original film shared only the title and the notion of twelve children and it went on to gross $190 million at the box office. That was good enough reason for a sequel and much of the original film's cast returns and Eugene Levy is introduced as a competitive patriarch of another large family.

The sequel has Martin again starring as Tom Baker. The story is set a few years after the first film and he and his wife Kate (Bonnie Hunt) are finding it difficult to deal with the children leaving the nest. Oldest daughter Nora (Piper Perabo) is now married and she and her husband Bud McNulty (Jonathan Bennett) are looking to move to Houston, Texas after Bud was promoted at work. Next eldest daughter Lorraine (Hillary Duff) is also moving away and wants to attend college in New York. Mark (Forrest Landis) would rather play football than spend time with the family and Tom is frustrated that his dozen children may never again be together for a family vacation. He talks his brood into one more family vacation on Lake Winnetka. Concessions are made and the family all agrees to partake.

When they arrive at Lake Winnetka it is discovered that Jim Murtaugh (Levy) has bought most of the property surrounding the lake and Tom's successful rival has brought an upscale environment to the vacationing area. Not many old properties remain, but the old cabin still stands and is in need of numerous repairs. The old rivalry is quickly re-established between the two and Tom and Jimmy find themselves comparing everything. Jimmy's kids are all well-to-do and Murtaugh is very wealthy. Tom is now a stay-at-home father and his children are often mischievous. Jimmy has married the gorgeous former actress Sarina (Carmen Electra) and he and his eight children are on top of the world. The rivalry is long running as the Murtaughs had beaten the Bakers in a yearly competition at the lake between families.

Tom struggles between wondering about the upbringing of his children when he compares his twelve children to the strictly raised Murtaugh clan and his desire to beat Jimmy at the competition. His own children are also finding strong friendships and romance among Jimmy's children as Tom's eldest son has been spending time with Murtaugh's daughter and younger children Sarah Baker (Alyson Stoner) and Jimmy's son Eliot (Taylor Lautner) go to a movie theater on a date. Soon the Baker children begin to rebel against their possessed father and Tom is left with only a small number of his children to square off against Jimmy. During the final stage of the competition that will decide the winner between the Bakers and the Murtaughs, the two families must work together and find a peaceful friendship.

I have yet to see the original "Cheaper by the Dozen" and therefore cannot offer a comparison between the two. This sequel grossed about $82 million at the box office and was both commercially and critically less successful than the first film. The original director, Shawn Levy, remained to produce this second film and other members of the creative team departed. Ashton Kutcher did not return and "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" is surely a case of a sequel created to capitalize on the success of the first. Without a comparison to the original, I can only look at this film as a standalone picture. My thoughts are that "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" is not a great film, but it can be entertaining. It's not good, but it's not bad.

The competitive father routine has been done countless times, but with the always affable Martin in the starring role and another iconic father figure, "Jim's dad" Levy opposite of Martin, it is hard to not find "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" at least somewhat entertaining. Martin and Levy are two very funny actors and both are stellar at being a comedy father. I would love to see the pairing return in "Cheaper by the Dozen 3," where they all go camping and compete in the woods. Of course, if that project would ever happen I would expect some royalties. There is a reason why Martin is continually cast in this type of role. He is good at it. On the other hand, I would rather see Levy make a few more of these films than show his fuzzy eyebrows in an eighth "American Pie" film.

The supporting cast is full of familiar faces and many of the Baker family reprise their roles from the first film. Bonnie Hunt and Carmen Elektra are good as the film's matriarchs, but they have far smaller roles than Martin and Levy. Hillary Duff's star has fallen some since the original, but I found the actress suitable enough to reprise her role as Lorraine. The child actors are all pretty good too. Nobody is going to win a Best Actor award for their work in this film, but everybody keeps things fun. Elektra is slowly becoming a legitimate actress and while she is never going to be taken seriously, she's talented enough to get through her lines convincingly. "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" has a fairly large cast, so it is difficult to give everybody a lot of screen time in an hour and a half.

Adam Shankman steps in as director for Shawn Levy. He is given the task of creating a film that was realized by somebody else and working with actors that already have an idea of how to portray their roles. Shankman is more of a ringleader than a creator and the on-screen mayhem and large cast are pulled together. You can never set your expectations too high on films of this type. It is a sequel meant to earn a few dollars after a highly successful original film. It would have been hard for Shankman to put a personalized stamp on "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" and the formulaic and cliché ridden feel of the picture is a problem that isn't necessarily the director's fault. He accepted a job and he did it. None of the other filmmakers can truly be faulted either.

"Cheaper by the Dozen 2" has its moments and it does entertain, but it is one of those films that are best viewed when you have absolutely nothing better to do. If you particularly enjoyed the first film, then you have good reason to see where the Baker family goes next in their walks through life. It is another chapter in a continuing story. The film does nothing fresh or original and it doesn't take any risks in doing something differently than the original picture. The film was made to appeal to the same audience with the same types of laughs as the original. It isn't intended to be anything great and I would never call it a great film and would struggle to call it a good film, but it will definitely entertain those interested in the product. Steve Martin has become everybody's favorite father and "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" is on par with his other fatherly pictures.

Video:

The cabin at Lake Winnetka was a run down mess, but there are plenty of good visuals beyond Carmen Electra in the film to show that the high definition 2.35:1 film is a quality transfer. "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" isn't anything visually spectacular, but it is a very clean looking title that shows off some very good coloring as well as the fauna of Lake Winnetka. In the grand scheme of things, the film is quite average looking when compared to all Blu-ray titles. Detail is solid, but the film lacks the three dimensional appeal of the more impressive discs. Coloring is very good and shows solid saturation. Black levels and shadow detail are good. There aren't any technical flaws with the transfer, nor any problems relating to the source materials. "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" is your typical Blu-ray title.

Audio:

Comedies are typically not havens for big audio effects or anything else of note to push multi-channel surround technology and "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" follows that rule of thumb. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is a clean, but tame sound mix. There are some ambient effects from the crowded Baker family, the clam bake party or environmental sounds relating to Lake Winnetka. As was the case with the visuals, this is a clean, but average mix. It does absolutely nothing wrong, but it does not particularly shine. Dialogue is far clearer than the waters of Winnetka and that is a good thing. The musical selections in the film sound warm. Foreign language support is provided by Spanish and French Dolby Surround 2.0 mixes. This is old school technology at work! There are Spanish and English SDH subtitles as well.

Extras:

In the world of high definition, this could almost be considered a bare-bones release, but "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" does have a few special features. Oddly, there were no promotional clips as the disc booted. However, the most substantial supplement is the Audio Commentary by Director Adam Shankman. It is there is you want to learn more about the film and a little insight into what it is like to work with Steve Martin. I sampled the track and it seemed affable enough. The other major special feature is the Fox Movie Channel Presents Casting Session (8:03). They talk about the second family and decisions made to cast them. It's decent. Camp Chaos (10:07) is a vignette to promote the film and how the scope was larger than the first film. It is an EPK type feature as well as A Comedic Trio (5:27) that talked about Martin, Levy and Bonnie Hunt. A pair of Theatrical Trailers for the film round out the bonus materials.

Closing:

"Cheaper by the Dozen 2" is a quick sequel to the blockbuster hit from a couple years ago. It stars Steve Martin as a goofy, but caring father who doesn't always do the best things, but always has his heart in the right place. He has become the master of that role and will always bring in audiences in this capacity. The film is an example of moviemaking by the numbers and the filmmakers and Martin do not try to achieve anything more than a marginally satisfying second journey with the Baker's dozen. It's a slightly less than average picture, but it is still watchable and has its moments. The Blu-ray release is average and it too is acceptable. This is a movie that is very difficult to love, but it is even harder to hate it. At least it is hard to hate if you understand why it was made and don't have any lofty expectations. Compared to the "Beethoven" and "American Pie" direct to video franchises, this is still a far better product.