“Cheaper By the Dozen (2022)” - Film Review
The new and improved Cheaper by the Dozen is led by Zoey (Gabrielle Union) and Paul (Zach Braff) Baker, a happily married couple living in Echo Park, California. Between their previous marriages and their current marriage, the Bakers have nine children. When not wrangling their household of kids to get to school on time, the Bakers run an all-day breakfast diner. Despite the steady business, they are behind on rent at the restaurant. Paul has created a special sauce that the diner is famous for and decides that, to get the family out of debt, he wants to mass-market his sauce.
There’s a lot to love about this updated version of Cheaper By the Dozen, and that’s thanks to the cast. The entire family feels genuine, and the scenes where the kids get to act goofy are childishly delightful. The film also has the antics one would expect from a live-action, family-friendly Disney movie. There are pool parties, scooter and bike races through the house, and dance-offs between dads. It feels lively and relevant to the current social issues we’re facing.
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Where Cheaper By the Dozen falters is the sheer breadth of topics the film valiantly tries to cover. It attempts to have meaningful conversations about racial profiling, parents in rehab, race relations in America, and many other important things families face, but it was a Herculean task to ask of the film. Because the bulk of the focus falls on Paul’s whirlwind culinary success, these important conversations are given mere minutes of screen time. It’s hard not to see the potential impact that a movie with a diverse cast like this could have made on many people’s lives.
In this rare instance, Cheaper By the Dozen needs more time. Whether that means a longer screenplay or a change of format to a television series, there were enough interesting concepts at play to warrant more time. It would work excellently as an easily accessible, lesson-forward series like Boy Meets World or Full House. The Babysitter’s Club on Netflix has themes similar to those addressed by Cheaper By the Dozen and was canceled despite its widespread critical and popular acclaim. It’s clear there’s a market for entertainment for families that creates a space for parents to have those hard-to-talk-about conversations. The effort made by Cheaper by the Dozen was noble and important, and the creators should have been given the time to fully explore each story line.
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