Cheaper by the Dozen | Too many messages to pass ★★½

Restaurant owners Zoey and Paul Baker are the heads of a multiracial blended family with 10 children and 2 dogs. They organize themselves well, until a business opportunity allows them to move to a more spacious house, in an affluent district of Los Angeles.

Danielle Bonneau
The Press

The novel Cheaper by the Dozen, written by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr and his sister Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, in which they tell how they grew up in a family of 12 children, in New Jersey, struck the imagination. A first film adaptation was launched in 1950, two years after the publication of the book. Then a second, directed by Shawn Levy and starring Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, was released in 2003. So here is a third version, which aims to be different and inclusive. The intention is good, but many messages are launched at once, which dilutes the reach of many of them. And the occasions for laughter turn out to be rather rare.

The most obvious of the themes discussed is racism, which manifests itself in different ways and of which some family members are victims. This one is very, very big. The mother, Zoey Baker (Gabrielle Union), has two children from a previous relationship and the father, Paul Baker (Zach Braff), has three, including a teenager of South Asian origin adopted when his parents died, when he was a baby. Together, the parents had two sets of adorable twins. The magic number of 10 children (in a family of 12, in reference to the title of the film) is reached since the parents temporarily welcome a nephew while waiting for his family situation to be regularized. The ex-spouses of each of the parents are added to the whole.

Paul Baker realizes his dream when he has the opportunity to move with his family to a magnificent and huge house, in a neighborhood where the arrival of a large (and multiracial) family raises eyebrows. With financial success come new responsibilities and extended absences. The problems that arise provide an opportunity to address several issues such as sexism, social inequalities and prejudices. Added to this are the difficulties of being a parent in a blended family, the challenges of adolescence and the complexity of accepting your children as they are. The eldest daughter is also in a wheelchair (bravo for the inclusion), but we do not know more.

Director Gail Lerner is at the helm of a feature film for the first time. Her roots are firmly anchored in the world of television, where she is a screenwriter, director and producer of programs (including Black-ish) for 23 years. The two screenwriters, Kenya Barris and Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry, have also mainly worked in television. Cheaper by the Dozenslated to air on Disney+, is done according to small-screen conventions, with lots of conversation and little action.

The story holds few surprises, but luckily the characters are likable. Gabrielle Union (bring it on, LA’s Finest) and Zach Braff (Scrubs) embody many overwhelmed parents who obviously love their children and are happy in the chaos that is their life. But too many highly relevant issues are addressed in too little time. Their saga deserves to be followed as part of a series.

Featured on Disney+

Comedy

Cheaper by the Dozen
(VF: Cheaper per dozen)

Gail Lerner

With Gabrielle Union, Zach Braff, Erika Christensen

1:47 a.m.

★★½