Cheaper by the Dozen 2

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Cheaper by the Dozen 2

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 Poster
Directed by Adam Shankman
Produced by Shawn Levy
Ben Myron
Starring Steve Martin
Bonnie Hunt
Hilary Duff
Tom Welling
Eugene Levy
Carmen Electra
Alyson Stoner
Music by John Debney
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) December 21, 2005 (U.S.)
Running time 105 mins.
Language English
Preceded by Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)
IMDb profile

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is a film produced by 20th Century Fox and released in 2005. It is the sequel to the family comedy film Cheaper by the Dozen (2003). Shawn Levy, the director of the first film, did not return as director for this sequel, which was instead directed by Adam Shankman (The Pacifier). Levy was a producer of the film and made an appearance as a hospital intern in the movie. Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo, 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 8 children. Carmen Electra portrays Levy's trophy wife.

The film was shot in Toronto and Eugene Levy's hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.[1]

Taglines:
This Christmas, you better watch out!
Same Big Family... Even Bigger Adventure.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The movie begins with the Baker family arriving late to Lorraine's high school graduation. Their other daughter, Nora (Piper Perabo) is now married to Bud McNulty, pregnant and is moving to Houston with Bud because of his new job promotion. Tom says that the Bakers should have beat the Murtaughs at the Labor Day family competition. Tom decides that since the family is breaking apart they should all go to Lake Winnetka for one last family vacation together. So the family goes to the lake to a very old and rustic cabin which they are not impressed with and are invited to a family party.

At the party, the family stands out, as they were not told that the party was a smart occasion and come casually dressed, arriving to find everyone else smartly dressed. Meanwhile, The Bakers run into the Murtaughs, whose father, Jimmy (Eugene Levy) is an old rival of Tom's and has a wife, Sarina (Carmen Electra) who's so much younger than Jimmy and eight kids. The kids make friends. Mark and Jake bring fireworks to the clambake. Mark puts down the book bag down sending the fireworks shooting everywhere. The next day, Tom wakes everybody up for breakfast and he thinks that having a camp out will bring the family together, so they all put up tents and sit around the campfire. They have a singing match with the Murtaughs around the lake. Then Jimmy comes and invites the Baker family over to their home. When they arrive, Tom is furious by how boastful Jimmy is and asks Sarah to play a trick on Jimmy in return for not being punished. She places meat in Jimmy's seat and releases their dog (who loves meat a lot, as seen in the previous movie). Things don't go exactly as planned, as Tom and Jimmy trade places to sit next to their respective wives. However, Sarah succeeds in destroying Jimmy's priceless crockery, which he claims he got from the King of Thailand. However, Jimmy sarcastically assures the family it's no big deal.

Elliot Murtaugh and Sarah are going knee boarding. Their father goes with wearing a wetsuit and elects to go first. However, he falls over, but does not let go and gets dragged a long way across the lake before being discovered by Sarah, who is angered that he has embarrassed her. Meanwhile, Charlie, and Anne talk about their future. Anne wants to leave Harvard and start painting and Charlie says that he wants to move up here and open a garage. Jimmy challenges Tom to a Labor day Competition, to which Tom agrees, despite promising not to. Meanwhile Sarah is caught shoplifting some makeup from the gift shop. Through talks with Kate, she admits she doesn't want to be embarrassed being caught buying makeup, so Kate explains all girls purchase makeup eventually and asks Sarah to promise to just buy the makeup instead of shoplifting it. Tom makes a practice schedule for the competition and tells the kids they can no longer associate with the Murtaugh family. Defying this, Sarah and Elliot form a bond. Elliot asks Sarah to go on a date with him and kisses her on the cheek. Tom quickly agrees, but Sarah hogs the bathroom to prepare for the date. Lorraine quickly arrives and helps Sarah put on her makeup. Sarah then leaves for her date. However, Tom goes to the movie they are watching to spy on them and unfortunately gets into a fight with Jimmy (who is also spying on Elliot) about "the move" (Elliot puts his arm around Sarah in the middle of the movie) and as a result, makes himself known to Sarah, so she and Elliot don't even get a chance to kiss. Sarah storms home afterwards in a fit of anger and declares she is not attending the Labor day competition the next day. The entire family, especially Lorraine are shocked at how low their father would sink in prying deep into their private lives. They also announce they will take Sarah's side and not join the Labor Day competition.

The next day is the competition but the only people who are going to help Tom are his younger twins. Kate stays with the rest of the family. In the rat’s hole, they find the old family flag. They then race to Tom's aid and join him in the nick of time. The competition goes to a tie-break canoe race but Nora goes into labor partway through the race. The Murtaughs try to stop and help, but Jimmy, sensing the opportunity to defeat Tom once and for all, refuses. However his eight kids, for once, defy him and get out of the boat to help the Bakers. Sarina announces to him that his kids like the Bakers, that his rivalry with Tom was before any of them, including herself was born and that he should listen to them, unless he wants to start looking for a new wife. He reluctantly agrees.

Tom waits in the waiting room with his kids and the Murtaugh family. Anne tells her dad that she is leaving Harvard. Jimmy says no she isn’t but Sarina reminds him to listen to their kids. Charlie tells Tom that he is opening a garage here. Both Jimmy and Tom accept these facts when they can go see Nora’s baby. Nora says they are going to name the baby Tom because he has taught them so much that there is no way to be a perfect parent, but a million ways to be a good one. Tom sheds a tear as he holds his new grandson. The next day, Bud and Nora buy the house on Lake Winnetka. That night Tom and Kate dance together on the dock.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia

  • Although the reviews were largely negative with a 6% positive review score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film performed fairly well at the box office, albeit not as well as Cheaper by the Dozen.[2]
  • The director of the preceding movie in the series, makes a cameo appearance on the film as a receptionist in the hospital where Nora delivers her baby.
  • Steve Irwin was originally going to make an appearance but declined it because he had to plan his documentary, Ocean's Deadliest (which, unfortunately, was the same show he was filming at the time of his death).
  • The film Sarah and Eliot go to on their date is Ice Age. Tom tells Jimmy the film is rated G, while in fact Ice Age was rated PG by the MPAA. Another fact is "Ice Age" was released in 2002, while the film is set in 2005.
  • The scenes from "Lakeside High School" where Lorraine graduates, are filmed at St. Andrew's College (Aurora, Ontario).
  • This film reunites Steve Martin with Eugene Levy, who previously performed together in Father of the Bride Part II and Bringing Down the House.
  • Although it seems like Hilary Duff and Tom Welling were on set throughout the duration of filming, they were only on set for about 2 weeks.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Internet Movie Database - List of Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario. Retrieved on 2008-01-29.
  2. ^ Cheaper by the Dozen - Box Office History

[edit] External links

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