Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio Audio Commentary-Adam Shankman (Director) Featurette-Fox Movie Channel Presents Casting Session Featurette-Camp Chaos Featurette-A Comedic Trio Theatrical Trailer-2
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	90:01
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (43:31)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Adam Shankman
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Steve Martin Bonnie Hunt Alyson Stoner Eugene Levy Morgan York Liliana Mumy Jacob Smith Tom Welling Brent Kinsman Shane Kinsman Hilary Duff Blake Woodruff Kevin Schmidt
Case	?
RPI	$39.95	Music	Tree Adams John Debney

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired English Audio Commentary	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, Yes, outtakes which are funnier than the film

    Very early in my time as a reviewer on this site, I reviewed Cheaper By The Dozen which was a remake of the 1950s film of the same title. Despite not being great cinema I did find the first film entertaining and sometimes amusing so I thought I would give this sequel a look, especially considering that the major cast addition for this film was one of my favourite comedic actors, Eugene Levy. If you only know Eugene from the American Pie films then take a look at some of the Christopher Guest films such as A Mighty Wind or Best in Show to see this very funny actor at work.

    Cheaper By The Dozen 2 brings back virtually the entire cast from the first film with the exception of Ashton Kutcher, who I didn't miss. Steve Martin & Bonnie Hunt reprise their roles as Tom & Kate Baker, the parents of a family of 12 children. This time the plot revolves around the family going on a holiday to a lake where they have previously had family holidays. Also holidaying at the lake are the Murtagh family, led by father Jimmy (Eugene Levy) and his new wife Sarina (Carmen Electra). Jimmy has a family of 8 children and Jimmy and Tom have a long-standing rivalry from when they knew each other as children. The plot of the film (such as it is) follows the interactions between the families and culminates in their competing against each other in family based multi-disciplined competition held around the lake.

    This is a pretty lame family comedy, with very few laughs to be had. Those that are about are really mostly retreads of jokes from the first film. Hilary Duff is back and just as annoying as she was in the first film. The warmth which was present the first time around is also missing.

    This sequel had a new director in Adam Shankman whose resume includes movies like Bringing Down The House & The Pacifier.

    I can't find much to recommend here despite the valiant efforts of Eugene Levy.

Video

    The video quality is excellent throughout.

    The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was very clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was excellent.

    The colour was excellent with no issues to report.

    The only artefact I noticed was some minor aliasing such as on a grille at 11:22 and a roof at 44:48.

    Subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired were included. They were clear and easy to read although somewhat summarised from the spoken word.

    The layer change occurs at 43:31 and is not noticeable.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is excellent, surprisingly good for a film of this type.

    This DVD contains two audio options, a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s and a DTS 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 768 Kb/s. The DTS track was very rich and warm throughout and was surprisingly full on during some of the action scenes. The Dolby Digital track was also very good.    

    Dialogue was at all times clear and easy to understand.    

    There were no problems with audio sync.    

    The score of this film by John Debny was good and added to the big set pieces. There was also good use of songs through the movie which were quite well chosen.    

    The surround speakers were quite busy adding directional effects and music. They were surprisingly active for a film of this kind.  

    The subwoofer was very active for a comedy in such things as explosions, motor boats, music and much more. A sequence which really surprised me involved cushions being thrown at a mouse running across the floor and each cushion hitting the floor caused thuds in the subwoofer.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    This disc contains a number of extras but none of them really got me overly interested.

Menu

    The menus included an intro, music and the ability to select audio and subtitle options.

Audio Commentary - Adam Shankman (Director)

    If you ever wondered what a commentary would sound like if done by Beavis and Butthead here is your chance. Although Shankman has some interesting things to say he childish manner becomes quite annoying, quite quickly. He thinks he's funny but isn't. He discusses casting, locations, scheduling issues, improvisation, music choices, working with the kids and at least redeems himself by finding time to make fun of Hilary Duff.

Fox Movie Channel presents Casting Session (8:03)

    This featurette focuses on the casting of the new family and is the pick of the extras although that's not saying much. Includes interviews with the stars, director and screenwriter.

Camp Chaos (10:17)

    Promotional featurette about the child actors and how the director and other stars found it to work with them. Boring.

A Comedic Trio (5:27)

    A featurette about Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt & Eugene Levy and how funny they are. Yawn.

Trailers (2:10 & 2:26)

    Two different theatrical trailers. The first one includes a nice idea, the second is pretty straightforward.

Weblink

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Pan & Scan Version

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• DTS soundtrack

   Based upon the above, the Region 4 would have to be considered the better version unless you are desperate for a pan and scan transfer.

    This movie is an ordinary sequel to a decent family film.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is excellent.

    The extras are present but pretty ordinary in quality.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall