Cheaper by the Dozen (2022) | Film Review

 

The Steve Martin 'Cheaper by the Dozen' films are two of my favourite films from my childhood. I re-watched them at the end of last year and still love them. But even though I loved them so much, for whatever reason, I was really onboard with a reboot, so I was really looking forward to watching this modern update.

Two parents (Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff) struggle to raise their blended family of ten children while navigating past relationships, moving home and expanding their breakfast restaurant.

I enjoyed this film. It isn't the best film in the world, and it's not necessarily better than its predecessors, but I thought it was fun.

For me the major problem with this film is the name. If the film reduced the number of children and changed the name, not only would it have felt original and interesting, but there would be no ties to the 'Cheaper by the Dozen' films. It would just be an interesting drama about a blended family.

I liked the characters, and loved the update of a blended family. It's nice to see the different dynamics between the parents and their children/step-children.

I felt that the film may have worked better as a TV show. There was a few different storylines that the film stuffed in, and had it been given more room to breathe, it might have been a better watch.

The film is predictable, there's no way to get around that. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you absolutely know what's going to happen.

There are moments when the film touches on issues of race without really saying anything, almost like it didn't know how to say what it wanted to say. I appreciate that it was trying to be deeper than just a surface-level comedy, but for me, you either have to dive into the topic completely, or don't bring it up. There is no reason to lightly mention it and then not really do anything with it.

There were definitely funny moments, but it wasn't as funny as it tried to be.

The ending was fine, but everything gets tied up too neatly and too quickly for my liking.

Overall, this is nothing amazing or ground-breaking, but I found it cute and heart-warming, and would definitely recommend it.

5.5/10