This was just painful to watch. It's beyond slapstick. It's a frantic, frenzied living mad-house catastrophe for most of the movie. I come from a large family and have known people with 12 children and it is nothing like this. Even from a comical take on a large family, this is stupidly unreal. Thrown in for reasons apparent only to the director are these drama moments that don't fit in the least. It's like a drunk slicer at the film lab combined two different movies. It could have been a good family story had they developed a great story around the drama moments, but if they were aiming for a comedy it missed the mark.

Some of the rapid fire, exaggerated moments flashing by in split seconds involve playing hockey in a gorgeous 12-bedroom home with first one child swinging from a chandelier, then child with adult until the entire chandelier breaks loose shattering all over the floor, with hordes of kids (all fighting and smart aleck) racing down the stairs on roller skates and skate boards. No damage whatsoever to the floors and the parents are eternally good natured, and dopey happy through it all. That's only one scene. It goes on like this----on and on and on. things are constantly breaking, crashing, spilling, kids banging on doors with sticks, bats and even a hatchet, yet the house is unbelievably well decorated with no signs of wear and tear.

None of the kids fit in with their new school; Dad gets his dream job; Mom gets a book published. But nothing goes right for either of them and SUDDENLY, the family and marriage is---WHOA!!- in a crisis! Everybody suddenly has a whole different personality and it goes from chaotic slapstick and good happiness to heavy drama. What?!? In the end it's all group hugs and philosophical sugar laden sweetness and sap. And during this end, as if by magic, ALL the daily and nightly mayhem just stops. Stops and vanishes without. trace. No mayhem; no crashing; kids are pulling together. It's suddenly all quiet. The house is in perfect condition. Extremely unbelievable in a bad way. The chaos is over played; the sugar-sweet is forced, unbelievable and doesn't fit with the chaos at all. It's like they walked through the looking glass and became an entirely different movie.

Obviously I'm in the great minority. But this is a loser.

I loved the orginal. I've seen it so many times, and I've heard bad things about the remake. I was worried I wouldn't like it. I've seen it twice now (vhs and dvd) and I love it. Yes, it's nothing like the orginal, but I honestly don't think that stops it from being funny. Steve martin is Hilarious in this movie. I love when he's hanging from the chandelier and thinks it's perfectly sensible to talk to his neighbor's kid about restaurant recommendations. It's such a cute movie. I love how the younger kids all stick together and when fedex (mark, who is my favorite) is being picked on in school, they gang up on the bully. There are a ton of funny scenes in the movie. Tom has a chance to obtain his dream: coaching a college team he's always wanted to and has to movie his family to a new town. The kids hate the move, and it becomes worse when his wife leaves for a book tour, leaving him to watch the 12 children. The movie, while high on humor, is just as high on heart. its heart is in the right place. These kids are miserable, dad is miserable, mom thinks things are fine, and you feel for tom. He wants his dream so badly, and the kids can't see that. I really enjoyed this movie and I think it's a movie both kids and parents can enjoy.

2003's CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN strays quite a bit from Frank Gilbreth Jr.'s classic 1948 biography book and the genial 1950 film adaptation. This modern-day version is more rambunctious, more catered to the family SUV generation. I found myself liking it - for different reasons - just as much as I did the Clifton Webb/Myrna Loy production.

Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt play the scrambling patriarch and matriarch of this chaotic brood. In raising twelve squabbling children, Tom (Martin) and Kate Baker (Hunt) have sacrificed much. And yet they still dream of having it all, of juggling the perfect family life with the successful careers. When Tom gets offered a job coaching college football at his prestigious alma mater and Kate's book takes off, they relocate the fam out of their rural home and into the bustling city, never mind that this puts the kids all out of sorts. In the 'burbs things seem okay on the surface, even though Tom is never home anymore, preoccupied as he is with the new job. But then Kate goes away on a whirlwind national book tour, leaving Tom in charge of the rowdy, feuding Baker clan. It's not too long before the pressures of a big time college program begin to undermine his parenting obligations. If Steve Martin's hair wasn't already white...

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN doesn't resonate as deeply as Martin's previous family pictures (FATHER OF THE BRIDE, PARENTHOOD). CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN does have its strong emotional beats, but mostly the story is played for hijinks. I'm fine with that. I thought this movie was fun. Familiar names are peppered in to offset the diverse cast of fresh kid faces. Steve Martin's career has evolved in that he has become a sort of iconic father figure in cinema. Bonnie Hunt, a fine, quick-witted comedienne, matches Martin in sharpness and timing. They have this easy rapport, and I believe them as a married couple. Piper Perabo plays the oldest sibling, Nora, who craves a life of her own but keeps getting dragged back into the crazy goings-on in the Baker household. Tom Welling is the discontented oldest son. Hilary Duff turns in a good performance as the even-keeled fashionista of the clan. Ashton Kutcher, back when he was up and coming, has a hilarious cameo as Perabo's self-involved model/actor. Poor Ashton Kutcher.

But it's the kids, with their personal oddities, who lend a refreshing spikiness to the story. Alyson Stoner (who you may've seen in those Missy Elliot music videos) is the standout as the tomboy ringleader Sarah, mastermind of some of the most diabolical pranks ever put to film (the meat-soaking prank is quite excellent). But it's young Forrest Landis who plays the shy, neglected Mark - nicknamed "FedEx" by his siblings because they claim he was dropped off at the house as a baby - whose actions provide salvation for the quickly deteriorating Baker household. But, wait, before the expected happy ending, the Bakers fall into one wild crisis after crisis, whether it's a pet frog sabotaging breakfast, tag-team throw-up, a recurring gag involving an unstable chandelier, or the wanton destruction of a neighbor's sedate birthday bash. Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy, that mild-mannered couple, would've applied the cane by now. Back in the day, parents really put their kids on punishment.

Stick around for the bloopers at the end of the movie.

This movie comes in two formats: widescreen on one side, full screen on the other. Here are the DVD's bonus stuff (some of which are on the reverse side of the disc):

- Audio Commentary by director Shawn Levy
- Audio Commentary by the Baker kids: Alyson Stoner ("Sarah"), Jacob Smith ("Jake"), Kevin Schmidt ("Henry"), Morgan York ("Kim"), Liliana Mumy ("Jessica"), and Piper Perabo ("Nora") in selected scenes
- Director's Viewfinder: Creating a Fictional Family" (00:04:51 minutes)
- 5 Deleted/Extended Scenes with Optional Director's Commentary (totaling 00:07:38 minutes)

It's hard to find a family movie that is super easy to watch and just fun. This one is a favorite of our eight year old, he loves the second one also. Lots of wacky, it's timeless and meat underwear? It cracks him up every time (no pun intended). Great for family night with 6-12 year olds.

I’d never seen it and was thoroughly entertained. Everyone in it was perfect. I heard Tom Welling say recently that he has an idea for another sequel - sure hope that happens!

I’ve no idea why Amazon gave me an unrequested refund for “poor playback quality” since there was no complaint - it played perfectly. Oh well!

Every family with lots of kids can relate to this story. Even if you have a few less that 12 you can relate to the story. Laugh out loud funny.

We have 6 children, and this was a perfect movie for family movie night! Our kids loved it, and my husband thought it was super funny. I loved how sweet and tender the mom and dad were to each other, and encouraged each other with their dreams. I guess the only thing that disappointed me was how the dad was portrayed-kind of an out of touch, not involved guy. That's pretty unrealistic in a family that big, it definitely is a hands on experience for both parents, especially parents that are as committed to each other and their family, as this movie was intended to portray. A great family movie, though.

I read a lot of the reviews here about this movie. Some of them were negative and it almost led me not to buy it. I am glad I did. I bought it for 2 reasons: Steve Martin and Tom Welling. After being a fan of Steve Martin for years and a new fan of Tom Welling, I wanted to see how they could pull this off. I think they did a good job. In an age where few good family movies are made, this is a good family movie.

Steve Martin is the drive of this movie. When you have 12 kids to show, it is not easy to get all of them equal time but the writers and and directors seemed to handle the problem well and it is balanced. Yes, there are some times that are "busy" in this movie, but what would you expect from a family with 12 kids.

The other reason I bought this was Tom Welling. This guy is growing everyday as a better actor. I hope that he will be noticed by more Hollywood execs for the talent he has and he is building. In this movie he showed that he can be funny and be the Man of Steel on TV. I think that he would have been a better choice as the new movie Superman than that other guy they hired, simply because he has more talent. I have loved Superman since I was a kid, but Superman Returns was the only movie I have watched in a theatre that made me fall asleep less than 30 minutes into it. I tried to watch it again but just couldn't, it had the same affect.

Take it from a family man of three young girls. Buy the movie, get some popcorn and enjoy it. I just purchased number 2.