Cheaper by the Dozen

luckat

Any good?

I used to love the books (Cheaper By the Dozen, followed by Belles on their Toes, by Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth, about a mad time-and-motion-study inventor who ran his family like a factory, timing their washing and teaching them to type in competion. He wanted 12 children because it was more efficient, and got them, all redheads!)

But I gather the new film has dispensed with the inventor and stay-at-home wife, and is now about two working parents with 12 children.

Sorry if this isn't an intellectual enough film for the forum. I love The Passion of Joan of Arc - but I love fluff films too!

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

Franky Boy

i went to this film with the hope that it would make me laaugh but i'm sorry to say that cheaper by the dozen was possibly the worst film that has hit the box office in years................................and actually when i really think about it iwasnt sorry to say that at all what so ever.i would rate that film very low:mad:

luckat

Have to agree, it's truly awful.

Apart from anything else, I went to the big cinema in Parnell Street - munch 'n' crunch land, full of people sloshing and gobbling, breathing popcorn-and-coke breath and worse.

The film is sentimental American slush of the worst order. For a start, the family of 12 from the original book has been turned into a *Catholic* family of 12. And the scientists of the original book have been dumbed down to a football coach and his wannabe-writer wife.

The humour of the original book was in the affectionate description of a tyrant of a father, a scientist who used his family of 12 as experimental material - and the family's strength coming out of their growing up in such an environment. It's very funny.

This film is patronising even to a six-year-old. Embarrassing. The laughs come from people being hurt - which can be funny if you're emotionally engaged, but this was just "oh, there hasn't been a laugh for a while, make someone slide in vomit".

The characters were cutouts: the lonely kid who doesn't belong, the big rowdy dog, the organising mother, the lovable father, the sexy teenager, the rebellious young woman, the fat kid, the twins, the superintelligent kid...

To think I wasted eight-and-a-half good-looking euros on this. Again I'll take your advice, Franky Boy and Smiaras.

Karl Hungus

I certainly like Steve Martin, but you could clearly see that this wasn't going to be of any use.

And I dont think he's going to come out with another LA Story, or Dirty Rotten Scoundrels any time soon.