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Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt return as perpetually exasperated but loving parents Tom and Kate Baker in this engaging sequel to the 2003 hit film. A family reunion at a lakeside summer home sets the scene for domestic hijinks. The Baker clan arrives to find the old house in barely livable condition and the entire community dominated by Tom's longtime rival, Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy), whose rigidly disciplined, overachieving children make the Baker kids seem like juvenile delinquents. Jimmy challenges Tom to engage in a holiday-weekend family competition, and the resulting "training" sessions turn an already problematic vacation into a comic war ground. Director Adam Shankman, who previously worked with Martin in Bringing Down the House, takes full advantage of his star, making him the butt of most of the jokes. Aside from a puzzling emphasis on squeezing Hunt into tight-fitting and/or low-cut shirts, the filmmakers avoid dicey or crude humor, relying instead on old-fashioned slapstick and pratfalls to elicit laughs. Tweens may be a little disappointed that Hilary Duff -- quite prominent in the first film -- has much less to do here, but otherwise Cheaper by the Dozen 2 will prove eminently satisfying for family audiences. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

The jumbo-sized Baker family are back in this sequel to the 2003 box-office hit Cheaper by the Dozen. College football coach Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and his wife, author Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt), have decided its time they took their sizable brood of 12 children on a summer vacation, and so they pack up the cars and take the kids to Lake Winnetka for some camping. Not all the kids are happy about this, but the one who is really annoyed turns out to be Tom, who discovers his old rival Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy) is also staying near the lake. Jimmy and his trophy wife, Sarina (Carmen Electra), also have a large family of eight children, and Jimmy and Tom seem intent upon one-upping each other at every opportunity. As the tensions mount, the Baker family and the Murtaugh clan face off in a not-so-good-natured series of family games to determine which of the parents have the greater bragging rights. In addition to Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, the actors playing the 12 Baker children from the 2003 film return for Cheaper by the Dozen 2, including Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, and Kevin Schmidt. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 024543393153
• Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1), Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Letterbox
• Sound: Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Español, Français
• Subtitles: English, Español
• Time: 1:34:00
• Sales Rank: 3,035

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Cheaper by the Dozen/Cheaper by the Dozen 2

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