Cheaper by the Dozen is a 2022 American comedy film directed by Gail Lerner (in her feature directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Kenya Barris and Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry, with Shawn Levy serving as an executive producer. The film stars Gabrielle Union, Zach Braff, Erika Christensen, and Timon Kyle Durrett with supporting roles by Christian Cote, Sebastian Cote, Christina Anthony, Caylee Blosenski, Journey Brown, Brittany Daniel, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Cynthia Daniel Hauser (in her first acting role in 20 years), Abby Elliott, Ron Funches, Leo Abelo Perry, Luke Prael, June Diane Raphael, Andre Robinson, Kylie Rogers, and Aryan Simhadri. It tells the story of a White restaurant proprietor (Braff) and his second Black wife (Union) as they raise the children from the restaurateur's previous marriage, the second wife's family, and the children they later conceived as their respective exes are still involved in their children's lives.
Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Cheaper by the Dozen had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre on March 16, 2022, and was released on Disney+ on March 18. The film was met with mixed reviews.
The film was a racially-diverse remake of the 2003 film of the same name, which was also a remake of the 1950 film of the same name.
Due to paying royalties, the film was removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, but was later made available digitally on September 26, 2023.
Contents
Plot
The Bakers, a blended multiracial family, began with Paul and Kate Baker (White), who had daughters Ella and Harley. After their friends died in a car accident, they took in their Asian godson, Haresh. Kate eventually divorced Paul, but they stayed friends, with Kate occasionally babysitting.
Zoey (Black) married football player Dominic "Dom" Clayton and had two children, Deja and DJ. However, due to Dom's phenomenon lifestyle, Zoey divorced him, gaining custody. She met Paul at his restaurant and suggested making the menu morning-themed all day. They married, expanded the restaurant into Baker's Breakfast, and had two sets of twins: Luca and Luna, and Bronx and Bailey.
Dom remains involved in Deja and DJ's lives, intimidating Paul, who was rarely present. As Deja prepares for her USC basketball scholarship, DJ feels a stronger connection with Paul than Dom. Paul secures a meeting with a major company to expand his restaurant and successfully gets his best-known food sauce on the store's aisle shelves. He uses the earnings to move the family and their dogs, Bark Obama and Joe Bitin', from Los Angeles to a bigger house in Calabasas, in a gated community.
Zoey feels the effects of racist profiling after meeting her neighbor Anne. Paul receives a call that his sister Rachel is in rehab, so he takes in his nephew Seth, whom Ella and Harley label a criminal. Seth bonds with Haresh, who is bullied for his race, teaching him self-defense while making "monster spray" for his younger cousins. Deja, rarely used on the Calabasa Hornets basketball team, sneaks out to see her new boyfriend Chris.
Paul travels to find new restaurant locations as investors Melanie and Michele push for changes to cut costs. He misses time with family, frightening Zoey, who divorced Dom for similar reasons. Haresh and Seth are suspended for a week by their principal after fighting bullies, leading Zoey to ground them. On DJ's birthday, Paul rushes home. The party circles when DJ modifies his look for a girl named Thalia while Anne investigates a chain of break-ins involving Zoey's family. Upon Paul's arrival, Deja reveals she quit the Calabasa Hornets and the family's sadness in Calabasas. Concerned about Zoey and Paul's ability to parent, Dom announces he will seek full custody of Deja and DJ.
Cast
Also in the film are the Baker family's pet Rottweiler Bark Obama and chihuahua Joe Bitin', who are named after Barack Obama (first African-American president circa 2009-16) and Joe Biden and are portrayed by two uncredited canine actors.
Late actors Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy briefly appear through archival audio from the 1950 film.
Production
In 2016, it was reported that Kenya Barris would work with 20th Century Fox on a remake of Cheaper by the Dozen. On August 6, 2019, following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that a reboot of Cheaper by the Dozen was in development and that it would premiere on the company's streaming service, Disney+. Gail Lerner was set to direct the film with a script co-written by Kenya Barris and Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry. Lerner had worked for Barris as a writer on the ABC television series Black-ish and admired that he saw her not only as a writer but also a director. Principal photography was scheduled to commence on July 13, 2020, in Los Angeles, California. After filming was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney's new CEO Bob Chapek announced that filming had resumed in November 2020. The film was revealed at the Disney Investors Day, along with the casting of Gabrielle Union.
In January 2021, Zach Braff joined the cast. In February 2021, Journee Brown, Kylie Rogers, Andre Robinson, Caylee Blosenski, Aryan Simhaldri, Leo Abelo Perry, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Christian Cote, Sebastian Cote, and Luke Prael joined the cast as the pair's children. Erika Christensen would be added to the cast in April. Filming had begun in Los Angeles by April 2021.
Shawn Levy, who previously directed the 2003 film adaptation, was confirmed in 2021 to be an executive producer on the film.
Also, Lerner thought it was important to adjust the film to accommodate the actors, and not have young performers speaking lines nor expressions that did not come across as realistic for them. Lerner said Zoey is the heart of the film, she acclaimed Union for not falling into tropes nor stereotypes, and not wanting to be pigeonholed as the stern mother and the finger-wagger. Union also served as an executive producer.
Music
In the 2022 film version, John Paesano composed the musical score. The soundtrack was released on March 18, 2022, by Hollywood Records and Walt Disney Records.
R&B singer Brandy and her daughter, Sy'Rai Norwood-Smith, recorded an original song "Nothing Without You" for the film. It was played during the end credits.
Release
On November 12, 2021, the film was revealed to be released in March 2022. On February 7, 2022, with the release of the official trailer, it was revealed that it would be digitally released on March 18, 2022, on Disney+. The film had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre on March 16. Following its removal from Disney+, it was made available on other streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Vudu and Google Play, on September 26, 2023.
Reception
Audience viewership
According to Whip Media, Cheaper by the Dozen was the 5th most-streamed movie across all platforms in the United States during the week of March 18, 2022, to March 20, 2022.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 35% of 37 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Cheaper by the Dozen adds some modern twists to its oft-adapted story, but fresh laughs are few and far between." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Variety stated: "Despite some of this movie’s missteps, the heart behind its messages is in the right place. Sentiments dealing with co-parenting after divorce and prioritizing family above monetary success may seem old fashioned on the surface. Yet it goes deeper, exploring and challenging our societal system’s gross inequities and injustices in a thoughtful, meaningful manner." IGN rated the movie 6 out of 10, stating, "Disney's latest reboot of Cheaper by the Dozen, starring Zach Braff and Gabrielle Union, can be as haphazard as its premise." The Guardian rated the movie 3 out of 5 stars, stating, "As with the 2003 film, the gist of Disney Plus’s remake is cheerful domestic chaos molded into light didacticism: the importance of the nuclear family (albeit a blended one, in this update) with reminders to not get blinded by financial success or the lure of growth." Screen Rant gave the movie 2.5 out of 5 stars, saying "Cheaper by the Dozen is a fluffy family drama that ultimately doesn’t amount to anything. [...] It is great that this blended family is so diverse, but if there is no thoughtful integration of their stories, they remain merely set dressing."
Accolades
The film received a nomination for Outstanding Makeup (Television or Film) at the 2023 NAACP Image Awards.
