I feel like every 10 years we have to remake Cheaper by the Dozen. No one asks for it but they keep making them. Let me tell you what they did with this one.
Get a blender. Start with the original Cheaper by the Dozen. Add an interracial couple, a blended family, racism, a Karen, and a wayward cousin. Toss in a mansion and an upgraded lifestyle and start your blender. This is the foundation of this movie and honestly, I was bored. Was it heartfelt? Yes, but did it need to be an hour and 40 minutes? Absolutely not.
I do have one question after watching this entire film. Does this family only eat breakfast? I did not see them eat anything but breakfast inspired foods. He made it very clear that he doesn’t do lunch so…what else are these kids eating? I’m just asking for a friend.
Out of the dozen of these movies we’ve seen, I can say that I liked this one the best. It didn’t feel like it was trying hard to be with the times. It felt authentic and I was very impressed by the conversation had by Paul and Dom about raising DJ. The intensity was palpable and you could see both sides of the argument. No one person was made to seem like they were right. That’s the good of the movie.
The last 15 minutes or so was too tidy for me. No one lost an eye or cried or didn’t get their way. I don’t like movies that end like that even when they’re those feel-good family movies. There has to be something lost or something that can’t be fixed. Literally, everyone got what they wanted. He still had his sauce, Deja got to go back to her team and school and thrive, and everyone else got to just go back to the life they knew. I’m not buying it, especially when you added all this extra to the movie. Give me more. We’ve evolved to this,
If you want a feel-good movie for the entire family, then this is your movie. A piece of my own makeshift family will love this film because this is their life on a smaller scale. If you’re like me and want a little more umph with your family films, then you will be bored. If I had to give it a number, I’d say 7 out of 10, but it’s worth a watch.
BLACK WATCH 