Cheaper By The Dozen 2
You taught us that there’s no way to be a perfect parent, but a million ways to be a really good one. You’re about as good as they get.
Growing up, I loved any movie that Hilary Duff was a part of (and I still do), which is why some of my favorite movies to cover are the ones from my childhood that she was in. As the 2003 Cheaper By The Dozen wasn’t set in the summertime, I'm jumping into the sequel this week. It might be regarded as an unserious children’s film, but it’s also undeniably funny. You can’t put Steve Martin and Eugene Levy as the leading characters in a film and not produce comedy gold. Among the life lessons of growing up and coming together with those you once despised, its humor is its biggest selling point.
Bakers VS Murtaughs
At the center of Cheaper By The Dozen 2 is the iconic feud between the Baker family and the much wealthier Murtaugh family, who owns not only a mansion on Lake Winnetka but also about everything else on the resort too. Where the Bakers are chaotic and mischievous, the Murtaughs are put together, well-trained, and prepped for success–the kids even have to take a break from playing outside to go home and study for a few hours, despite it being summer. However, it’s actually not much of a family feud, considering the only two interested in outdoing each other are the fathers, Tom Baker and Jimmy Murtaugh. The kids get along, and even Jimmy’s significantly younger wife enjoys Kate Baker’s presence.
“You know when we were kids, I used to be so envious of Tom Baker, he just had it all,”-Jimmy Murtaugh, Cheaper By The Dozen 2.
Both fathers let their egos get in the way of what could be a really nice vacation. While it seems like the Murtaughs have it all because of their wealth, the kids love being around the Bakers, who are free to be kids without expectations of being extraordinary. Tom’s envy towards his wealthy enemy is apparent throughout the film, but it’s not until later on that we learn Jimmy is jealous of him too. In society, it’s easy for us to understand why someone would be jealous of someone else for having more money, and it’s easy to assume rich people have it all. However, Jimmy’s family doesn’t really have it all. His kids are under immense pressure, and Jimmy is still carrying around jealousy from when he was a teenager and Tom was the more popular one.
His inability to let this go is the driving force behind his always trying to outdo Tom. There’s a comedic moment when Tom and Jimmy follow their kids on their first date to the movies, and this is where we learn that they really are more similar than they understand. It’s also the most obvious moment that there really is no villain in Cheaper By The Dozen 2. Both fathers want what’s best for their kids, even if they don't realize it isn't necessarily in their children's best interest. They end up exposing that they're spying on their kids, and it causes a scene in the theater. This only further bonds them and forces them to face that maybe the reason they fight so much is because they see themselves in each other.
“You know you and Jimmy aren’t so different dad, different styles, yeah, but same result,”-Henry, Cheaper By The Dozen 2.
While the movie scene is funny, my favorite scene in Cheaper By The Dozen 2 is when the Bakers are singing around the campfire, and Jimmy decides he needs to compete by having his family sing around a bonfire too. It becomes a competition over who can sing better and louder. Everyone knows or has known someone in their life who seems to be good at everything, and that's the part that made the Murtaugh's vocal talent so funny, because it's relatable. It also adds to the storyline that the family can afford to have everyone go to voice lessons and that Jimmy is always one step ahead of Tom.
However, while the Murtaughs may be more likely to win a talent contest, the Bakers looked like the ones who were having the most fun. I think that’s the best message that comes out of this film, and it's demonstrated best in this scene. The Bakers are the complete opposite of the perfect family, but the Murtaughs only look like the perfect family because Jimmy tries so hard to create that image, and ultimately it falls apart in the end. It creates resentment and causes his own family to turn against him unless he decides to throw away his feud with Tom to help the Bakers when their eldest daughter, Nora, goes into labor at the end of the film. His wife even threatens to leave him if he doesn't give it up.
Once Tom and Jimmy drop their hatred toward each other, they’re able to enjoy themselves too. I think one of the problems with our society is that we prioritize the wrong things. I know we hear it all the time that the amount of money you have won’t matter when you die, but how much fun you have will. When I think back on my life, the moments are remember the most that bring me the most joy are the times I was enjoyng myself without expectations; like going to Disney World with my sister or all the times me and one of my best friends got in trouble in high school for laughing too much in class. The Bakers may not have straight A's or gold trophies lining the shelves in their home, but they have their priorities straight, and in the end, I think the Murtaughs learn a lot more from them than they learn from the Murtaughs.
Tom Welling Renaissance
Recently, my TikTok FYP has been flooded with videos about how much everyone loved Tom Welling in the 2000s. It’s likely linked to the new Superman movie, and that Welling played Clark Kent in the 2001 series Smallville. However, I remember him best as Charlie Baker in the Cheaper By The Dozen franchise. He’s equally as attractive in the second film as he was in the first, but we get to learn a little bit more about his life goals in the sequel. He also has something of a fling with Jimmy’s daughter, Anne Murtaugh.
While they come from different families, and their fathers seem to think they have nothing in common, they bond over the conflict of wanting one thing while feeling like they need to do what their fathers expect of them. Jimmy Murtaugh is set on the idea that Anne will become a businesswoman and work for his company, but she hasn’t told him that she dreams of being an artist. Meanwhile, Charlie went to college in the city to be closer to home, despite not actually liking living in the city.
“You know Annie, I was just trying to be a good father,”-Jimmy Murtaugh, Cheaper By The Dozen 2.
Their romance doesn’t go much in depth, but we do learn more about how similar the families are just by how each kid is longing to do something else while being held back by needing to please their parents. They’re also able to encourage each other to tell their parents what they really want out of life instead of holding themselves back out of fear. I think that’s one of the most beautiful aspects of the film, how two people from families that are supposed to be opposites actually come together to help each other, and as a result, their fathers are forced to come together too.
Everybody’s Moving On
Aside from the Bakers VS Murtaughs family feud, the other biggest plot in Cheaper By The Dozen 2 is that everyone is growing up and moving on with their lives. In the first film, the eldest child, Nora, lives with her self-absorbed boyfriend, and Charlie and Lorraine are still in high school. In the second film, Nora is married to a much more tolerable husband while pregnant with her first child and planning on moving to Houston. Charlie eventually reveals he wants to move out of the city to open his own garage, and Lorraine is moving to New York in the fall. Their end-of-summer vacation to Lake Winnetka is meant to be a way for the family to all be together again before everything changes, and like any parent, Tom is having a really hard time letting go of his kids.
On top of all the moving, Sarah, the tomboy of the family, starts to like Jimmy’s son Elliot and realizes she does want to start dressing more femininely. However, the part of this storyline that I like the most is when her mother reassures her that she doesn’t need to change who she is to get someone else’s attention. It’s something I touched on in my monthly newsletter: What I Learned About Authenticity From My Favorite Movies. Kate tells her daughter, “When you like a boy, never be anybody but yourself.” She reminds her that Elliot liked her the way she was when he met her, not because she started wearing makeup and dressing pretty. However, I also think it’s okay to grow and change and try out new styles and personalities.
I love the scene when Lorraine does Sarah’s makeup in the bathroom because, despite all the chaos and arguments between the twelve siblings, it’s a sweet bonding moment where they actually are getting along. While there’s a lot of struggle throughout Cheaper By the Dozen 2 with Tom accepting his kids are growing up, the film has a satisfying ending. Not just because Tom allows his kids to be free, but because the whole family seems to realize that just because they’re all going down their own life paths now, and some of them will be living in different areas of the country, doesn’t mean they’re not a family.
In fact, Tom and Jimmy’s acceptance of what their kids actually want for themselves brings the families closer together, even if physically they’ll be further apart. That’s another important message from Cheaper By The Dozen 2: physical closeness does not equal emotional closeness, and if you want to really be bonded with the people you love, you have to give them the freedom to live life on their own terms.