"Cheaper by the Dozen" & "Cheaper by the Dozen 2"

Yep, I own the "Cheaper By The Dozen" two movie set. Hahahaa, hilarious. JP was soooo excited when he learnt that. We decided to get these out of the way at the same time by watching them back to back on one miserable Sunday afternoon.

"Cheaper By The Dozen" stars Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt s the parents of 12 children from aged 22 to 4yrs. They live in a country town until Dad gets his dream job and Mum's book is published. All of a sudden the kids find themselves moving to the city and with parents that are focusing on their careers. Like the tribe they are they band together to cause havoc and try and fit in in their new world. They make meat soaked underwear to ward off the older sister's boyfriend - classic! Eventually Mum and Dad realise that their family is their most important job and bring the family back together.

This movie stars some big names - Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Tom Welling, Piper Perabo and Ashton Kutcher as the boyfriend. It also stars some names that you might not have known at the time, but you might do now. The young twins are Brent & Shane Kinsman who go on to star as the twins in Desperate Housewives. Allyson Stoner is the tomboy Sarah who goes on to star in lots of Disney shows including the 'Camp Rock' movies that are popular with tweens right now. Kevin G Schmidt is Henry and goes on to star in hundreds of TV shows and movies. He also grows out of his baby fat to become a rather handsome young man (still to young for me!).

This movie is fun. There is nothing challenging about this movie. You can just sit and watch a movie that is for the whole family. This movie does make me want a big family but I'm not entirely sure that I want 12 children. That just seems like an awful lot of children.

Should you watch it? Sure, if you're looking for a no brainer. Or if you like Steve Martin comedies. It's sweet and fun, but it won't change your life. And then, you have like (of if you have too like JP did) you can watch the sequel.

"Cheaper By The Dozen 2" was made two years after the original and stars all the same cast. Perhaps they signed on for a two movie deal, I'm not sure. But it does seem like a big feat to get all the cast back again when it's such a big cast.

In this sequel the family go to the Lake for a family vacation - possibly the last one now that the oldest daughter is married and pregnant, the second oldest is wanting to start his own business and the third has just finished school and moving to New York. Up at the lake they start to have a lot of fun with the neighbouring family who happens to be Dad's number one lake nemisis. The rivalry comes to a head at the labour day family competition - Bakers vs Murtaughs. But they come together when Nora goes in to labour and they must find their way out of the wilderness and to the hospital.

The difference between this movie and the first one is that they aren't fighting against each other. There is much more family unity this time around.

While all the original cast (minus Ashton Kutcher) are back, we also have some new faces as well - Eugene Levy, Carmen Electra, Jamie King and a young Taylor Lautner star as some of the rival family. All cast work well together and seem to complement each other well.

There's not really too much that I can say about this one I don't think. Just like the first one I think that this movie is a fun, no-brainer for the family. It's sweet and a great show of family togetherness. It also has that message that life moves on but no matter what family is family. I think that's a good message to have. But the reality is that it's still just a fun family movie.

Watch it if you want too - I like it, but don't expect any magical greatness from it. It is what it is.

Next? "Chicago"! Wahoo - the first musical. Then two chicken movies - "Chicken Little" and "Chicken Run".