CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN
Year: 2003
USA & UK: Twentieth Century Fox
Cast: Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Tom Welling, Piper Perabo, Kevin G Schmidt, Alyson Stoner, Jacob Smith, Forest Landis, Liliana Mumy, Morgan York, Blake Woodruff, Shane Kinsman, Brent Kinsman, Paula Marshall, Steven Anthony Lawrence, Alan Ruck, Richard Jenkins, Holmes Osborne, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Rex Linn, David Kelsey, Dax Shepard, Elon Gold, Cody Linley, Adam Taylor Gordon, Julie Kay Araskog, Benjamin Fitch, Antonio Vega, David Bowe, Kevin Carey, Ossie Mair, Amy Hill, Ted Rooney, Joel McCrary, Tiffany DuPont, Shawn Levy, Dylan S Shults, Regis Philbin, Kelly Ripa
Director: Shawn Levy
Country: USA
UK: 97 mins
USA Rated: PG for language and some thematic elements
UK Certificate: PG contains mild language and sex references
USA Release Date: 25 December 2003
UK Release Date: 13 February 2004
Synopsis
In modern America, where the average family has 1.87 children, Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and wife Kate (Bonnie Hunt) have decided that life is better - if not cheaper - by the dozen.
The Bakers live in a small Illinois town where Tom coaches the local college football team. The family's day-to-day life is marked by equal parts love and chaos... pet-frog-landing-in-the-breakfast eggs type of chaos. When Tom is offered his dream job - coaching a squad at a large university - he and Kate uproot the family, much to the displeasure of all twelve children. At the same time, Kate learns that her memoirs are about to be published. Her agent whisks her away to New York to promote the book, leaving Tom home alone to handle the increasingly unhappy and hectic household, as well as his demanding new job.
The Baker children are already upset from having to move away from their old home and friends, and now that Dad is left in charge, it's time for revenge! Tom's new job as Coach doesn't leave a lot of time for the kids and the once strong and organised family starts to crumble with hilarious results.
As middle child Mark and his toad Beanz run amok, the rest of the Baker brood also run riot: Sarah plays tricks on her older sister Nora's boyfriend Hank, Jake abseils from the roof, Kim and Jessica make themselves sick on sweets and the four-year-old twins Nigel and Kyle get their heads stuck in buckets. When the whole gang gate-crash a neighbour's party, they generally make a nuisance of themselves the way only kids on a mission can do!
CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN stars Steve Martin (BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE) as over-extended dad Tom Baker and Bonnie Hunt (JERRY MAGUIRE) as Kate, the mom who has mastered the art of daily emergency management. Also starring is Tom Welling (SMALLVILLE) as eldest son Charlie, Hilary Duff (AGENT CODY BANKS, LIZZIE MCGUIRE) as sassy teenage daughter Lorraine, and Piper Perabo (COYOTE UGLY) as Nora, the oldest of the dozen and the first to leave the nest.
The DVD features exclusive extras including audio commentary by director Shawn Levy (Just Married), commentary by the full kids cast, 11 deleted scenes, four featurettes and Easter eggs.
DVD EXTRAS
Aspect ratio: 16x9
Sound quality: English 5.1
Audio commentary by director Shawn Levy
Audio commentary by child cast members
Alyson Stoner (Sarah Baker)
Jacob Smith (Jake Baker)
Kevin Schmidt (Henry Baker)
Morgan York (Kim Baker)
Liliana Mumy (Jessica Baker)
Piper Perabo (Nora Baker)
Eleven deleted/ extended scenes with optional commentary
Planning Hanks accident
Book tour amenities
Baker twins first day at school
Tutoring the team
The Nanny
The Slumber Party
Bakers on defence
Football past
Dylan's birthday madness
Supporting coach
Hank's biggest fan
Four featurettes
Frogs and eggs
Dylan's birthday
Directors view finder: Creating a fictional family
Critters
Story board to screen comparisons
Frogs and eggs
Dylan's birthday party
Easter eggs
Hank's Tommy Max commercial