Cheaper by the Dozen 2Movie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 34 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
8 Iffy for 8+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    What I liked the most about the second "Dozen," was another performance, the one by Alyson Stoner as their daughter Sarah. As a girl poised on the first scary steps of adolescence, she finds the kind of vulnerability and shy hope that Reese Witherspoon projected in "The Man in the Moon." Read full review

  • 70
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Thomas

    A family comedy that is actually involving, even believable, and manages to be pretty funny too. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    Give Dozen a slight edge to the mournful "Yours, Mine & Ours" as a holiday season bottom-feeder, because Martin and Levy are better at slapstick than Dennis Quaid. Read full review

  • 40
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    This is definitely a family trip to stay home and skip. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    A textbook example of how not to mess with success, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is every bit as forced, synthetic, banal and mawkish as the first edition. Read full review

  • 40
    Variety | Justin Chang

    Bland, canned but studiously professional sequel retains most of the principals from Fox's family-friendly 2003 hit, including the ever-reliable Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt. Read full review

  • 33
    Entertainment Weekly |

    What you have is less a sequel to a not-so-bad remake than yet another remake, this one of that not-so-great 1988 John Candy comedy "The Great Outdoors." Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times |

    This messy blend of silly slapstick and oversentimentality probably won't please children, teenagers or adults. Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    A few amusing moments mixed in with the painful ones. Read full review

  • 25
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    There's something pernicious about a toxic mix of sitcom and snickering sex jokes getting packaged and effectively sold as wholesome fun for the family. Read full review

View more reviews for Cheaper by the Dozen 2 on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 8+ Brain-numbing sequel to a bad 2003 movie. Beware.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that the movie includes slapsticky roughhousing and stupid antics, including a clambake disrupted by fireworks and a tennis game disrupted by two young boys careening in a golf cart. Women (especially Carmen Electra) wear tight tops, with several shots focused on cleavage. There is homophobic humor and mild profanity. Parents aren't portrayed in the best light; fathers engage in obnoxious, childish competition.
  • Families can talk about the exaggerated competitiveness between the two fathers. How do the dads lose sight of their kids' interests? How do their wives and children see getting along as more fun than winning contests? How does the movie celebrate individuality in contrast to conformity?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Obnoxious, childish competition between two dads leads to splatty comedy and arguments; a girl shoplifts makeup; some kids pull pranks or pout/visibly resent their fathers' bad behaviors.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence and scariness: Stupid antics involving explosions (fireworks); rough sports-play (tennis, waterskiing, log-rolling that ends when dad falls and his crotch hits the log); one dad tells kid athletes to " on their throats and press down."
  • sex false3 Sexy stuff: Carmen Electra wears tight tops; Bonnie Hunt borrows t-shirt that reads " Mama" jokes about awkwardness of preteen romance; dads act out homosexual attraction, soilciting homophobic responses; joke about " hormonal pregnant woman."
  • language false0 Language: Mild language.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Life cereal, Allure magazine, Nike t-shirt, Napoleon Dynamite<> poster in a movie theater.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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