The classic \u201cCheaper by the Dozen\u201d franchise has returned for a third movie adaptation. While this modern take brings a diverse and jubilant cast, it does not live up to its predecessors’ comedic or heartwarming standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unknown to many, this movie franchise derived from the 1948 semi-autobiographical novel of the same namesake, written by siblings Ernestine Gilbreth Carey and Frank Gilbreth Jr. who lived in a family of 12 children. In 2003, 20th Century Fox released the renowned American comedy starring Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt as Tom and Kate Baker. This film follows their careers and family life with twelve children. With an incredibly talented cast and heartwarming relationships, this well-written film rightfully got its sequel \u201cCheaper by the Dozen 2\u201d in 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although a somewhat cringey take on a summer comedy, the second film still holds a spot above the third, released on Mar. 18 on the Disney Plus platform. Similar to other Disney reboots like \u201cHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series,\u201d Disney took the risk and attempted a very modern take on a classic. The film was directed by Gail Lerner and stars Gabrielle Union-Wade and Zach Braff. Union and Braff play Zoey and Paul, parents who are navigating through life with a blended family of 10 children while running Baker\u2019s Breakfast, the family business. While growing the business, they move from Los Angeles to Calabasas, and Paul gets lost in the corporate world without making time for his family. In an interview with BuzzFeed, Union-Wade explains that Paul \u201chas these very ambitious goals and he wants to move on up. But what comes with that when you have a blended family \u2026 Will all of my children be comfortable and safe here?\u201d No spoilers, but like all Disney movies, it still has a happy ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are a few things done well that are worth exploring. The film portrays a contrast from the stock picture book family, showing representation to audiences. Paul has two white children, one of whom is handicapped, with his previous wife, and they take in their Indian godson. Zoey has two Black children with her previous husband. After both divorcing, Zoey and Paul marry and blend their families, later having two sets of mixed twins and taking in their nephew to top off their dozen. The film shows what it\u2019s like in a family of divorced and remarried parents as the four navigate boundaries. Paul and Dom, Zoey\u2019s ex, battle for dominance as fathers, portrayed in a lighthearted dance battle but also an extremely important conversation about race. While Paul may be around more for his kids, Dom explains that Paul cannot prepare his son for being seen as a threat and being pulled over constantly by cops. Also, Zoey has to tell her twin sons to keep their toy guns inside before they go to the pool, where white children are playing with theirs. However, these topics are only explored, as Union-Wade puts it perfectly, \u201din an age-appropriate, Disney way,\u201d and the surface is only skimmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, let\u2019s explore why this film is definitely not the first pick for movie night. First of all, the film shares no connection to the others besides their last name. It starts with an over-narrated explanation, but the narration only returns in the end. Union-Wade and Braff both give great performances as individuals, but they do not share great on-screen chemistry. Also, the script is comically unkind to Braff\u2019s character. From horribly executing a TikTok dance, rocking skinny ripped jeans and a fanny pack to seem hip for an interview, and spitting dad jokes like \u201cWhere’s the rest of your skirt?\u201d Paul is seen as really cringey at times. In fact, Screen Rant explains it as an \u201cunfunny and uninspired mess of a script,\u201d which is only saved at times by adorably executed one-liners from young Luna Baker, played by Mykal-Michelle Harris. Unfortunately, the film focuses so much on Paul\u2019s journey to grow the business that the 10 children\u2019s lives are not even truly explored. The Los Angeles Times explains, \u201cThey\u2019re props, more or less.\u201d Overall, the best part of the film might just be Beyonce\u2019s \u201cLove on Top\u201d playing during the introduction credits. The audience has given the film 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, really only best for a quick airplane watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The classic \u201cCheaper by the Dozen\u201d franchise has returned for a third movie adaptation. While this modern take brings a diverse and jubilant cast, it does not live up to its predecessors’ comedic or heartwarming standard. Unknown to many, this movie franchise derived from the 1948 semi-autobiographical novel of theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":460,"featured_media":346784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-","post-346779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pacenews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/files\/2022\/03\/unnamed-1.jpg?fit=720%2C892&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1TYqQ-1sdd","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/460"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346779"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346932,"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346779\/revisions\/346932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knightlife.paceacademy.org\/knightlynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}