Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film)

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Cheaper by the Dozen
A promotional poster for Cheaper by the Dozen.
Directed by	Shawn Levy
Produced by	Michael Barnathan Robert Simonds
Written by	Craig Titley Sam Harper Joel Cohen & Alec Sokolow
Starring	Steve Martin Bonnie Hunt Hilary Duff Piper Perabo Tom Welling Alyson Stoner
Music by	Christophe Beck
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	December 25, 2003 (USA)
Running time	98 min.
Language	English
Followed by	Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005)
IMDb profile

Cheaper by the Dozen is a 2003 American comedy film about a family with twelve children (seven boys and five girls). The title of the film was initially taken from the novel Cheaper by the Dozen, which was a biography of Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth and their twelve children, but other than the title and the concept of a family with twelve children, the film bears no actual resemblance or similarities to the book. The film was directed by Shawn Levy who helped produce the sequel Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

Taglines:
This Christmas The More... The Scarier!
Growing pains? They've got twelve of them!

[edit] Plot

The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot.

The movie begins with scenes showing Tom Baker (Steve Martin) jogging across the town of Midland where the family resides. Upon his return he finds his wife Kate (Bonnie Hunt) on the personal computer who is correcting mistakes to her novel in which she will later send away to be published. The children are preparing for school and running around the house. A later scene shows the Bakers preparing breakfast. Mark (Forrest Landis) enters the room looking for his lost pet frog called Beans. As the family sits down to eat breakfast, Mark spots Beans on the light above the breakfast table and uses a fishing net in an attempt to get him down; Beans then jumps and destroys the family's breakfast food. When Beans is finally caught after the kitchen being almost destroyed, Mark accidentally smashes his mother's china ornaments. At a later scene, Tom returns home after being offered a new job and promotion in the urban area of Illinois with education advantages and a new vehicle; however, although Kate approves, his children overhear and object to his proposed actions in a family conference in the living room. Even though the children vote about what they would rather do, Tom decides to accept the job and move to the city, many miles away from their current countryside home. After arriving in their new house, an argument ensues between the Baker children about which room each child will have. Mark is left only with the option of the small attic room, which turns out to be the best room.

Upon arriving in the new urban community, they are greeted by the neighbors, who take a negative atittude to the Bakers because of the number of their children and the fact that they "run wild". After settling into their new home, Tom is asked to speak live for FOX Sports and rushes out to present his speech live to America. The children plan to humiliate their older sister Nora's new boyfriend Hank (Ashton Kutcher). Meanwhile, Kate is offered a book tour for her novel Cheaper By The Dozen, a bestseller about their unusually large family. With Kate gone, the children begin to misbehave and Tom finds it hard to handle the situation, but is too proud to call Kate for help. He instead asks his adult daughter Nora to babysit frequently, interrupting her personal life and time with her boyfriend. Problems at home and school lead to all the children (except Nora) being grounded. After the Baker kids sneak out and accidentally wreck their friend Dylan's birthday party, Kate ends the book tour and returns home, angry at Tom for not telling her that he could not handle it.

An interview on Oprah is scheduled to be held in the Baker home, despite the chaotic day they had. Just before the shoot starts, Mark enters the room and informs everyone that his frog Beans has died. Sarah Baker then tells him no one cares and calls him FedEx and a large argument and fight ensues, causing the shooting crew to leave. That night, Kate discovers a note on Mark's bed saying Big families stink, with Mark missing. The family begins searching after calling the police, Tom realizes that Mark's favorite place was the Midland house and frantically makes his way to the railway station. He finds Mark, on a train heading towards Midland. They ride the train together to Midland and are greeted by the family at the railway station the next morning. They apologize to each other. Then they hold a funeral for Beans at Midland burying him next to his mother, and Tom quits his football career to find a job which would provide more time for him to spend time with his family. While they return to the city and begin to adjust to their new life, Kate's book is published and stays at the number one at the bestseller's list on the book chart for 12 months.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production crew

The film was directed by Shawn Levy.^[1]

[edit] Writers

The movie was written by several people, including one of the writers from the original movie:

• Frank Gilbreth Jr. Novel writer
• Ernestine Gilbreth Carey Novel writer
• Craig Titley Screen story
• Sam Harper Screenplay
• Alec Sokolow Screenplay
• Joel Cohen Screenplay^[2]

[edit] Awards

Cheaper By The Dozen has been nominated for several awards. The following is a list of these:

[edit] Screenplay

The screenplay was written by:

• Craig Titley (screen story)
• Sam Harper
• Joel Cohen
• Alec Sokolow

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Home Page
• IMDB Cheaper by the Dozen
• Cheaper by the Dozen at Rotten Tomatoes
• Movie Trailer
• Movie stills