Cheaper By The Dozen on DVD

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*by KEES BOER*	Next Film

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One of my all time favorite movies is the film, "Cheaper by the Dozen," which came out around 1950 starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Joy. Needles to say, I was excited when I heard they were going to create a remake of the film.

The new "Cheaper by the Dozen" stars Steve Martin as Tom Barker, a football coach at a major University. His wife, Kate Barker, is played by Bonnie Hunt. Hilary Duff (Lizzie McGuire) plays one of the daughters.

Tom Barker is a small town coach in Illinois when he gets the chance of a lifetime. He is recruited to his former university as the head football coach. But, there are 12 problems — his 12 children don’t like the move.

Tom gets his way and right after they move, life becomes even more interesting, if one could imagine life with 12 children becoming more of anything. Kate learns that her memoirs are about to be published, and she has to go on a two-week tour to promote her new book.

Poor Tom, when Kate asks him if he can handle coaching the football team, while at the same time taking care of the "home team," Tom believes he is up for the job. He is over confident and is all the more eager to take on the challenge so that his wife can pursue her once in a lifetime chance.

Predictably, within a short time the house becomes the biggest mess. It is hilarious to see what these children are capable of doing to the house — almost as funny as Tom’s reaction.

Curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to find out what it was like to have so many children. The closest example I could think of were Matt and Jan Gordon, who have nine children — and another one on the way. I asked Jan what her family is like when she has to leave for a while. She believes the family ends up concentrating on the essentials, but that "…the house is actually cleaner and neater than when I am there."

This is a great family film (unless your kids tend to imitate what they see in the movies; in that case, you have been warned). I thought it was exceptionally funny and I appreciated the film’s message of loyalty to one’s family above work or other responsibilities.

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