Cheaper By The Dozen 2 [2005]

To the movie's credit, it doesn't quite degenerate into a National Lampoon's Vacation knock-off, though it comes perilously close. But thanks to the grace of Bonnie Hunt and general good spirits of the cast of kids (including Tom Welling, Smallville; Hilary Duff, The Perfect Man, who in some scenes becomes uncomfortably Lolita-esque; and Piper Perabo, Coyote Ugly, among others), this unnecessary sequel manages to remain enjoyable to anyone with a taste for broad family movies. But Stoner--as a tomboy getting her first crush--brings considerable charisma to her generically-written part, and her scenes give the movie a much-needed emotional lift. Otherwise, it's a movie in which Carmen Electra plays the voice of reason (in a series of tight-fitting tops). --Bret Fetzer

Synopsis
Steve Martin returns as the proud patriarch of the Baker family in this sequel to the original CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, based on a book by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth. This time, all twelve Baker kids and their parents, Tom (Martin) and Kate (Bonnie Hunt), are going on vacation, returning to their summer cabin in Wisconsin for one last hurrah before the kids grow up and go their separate ways. Lorraine (Hilary Duff) is on her way to New York to begin an internship with VOGUE, Nora (Piper Perabo) is hugely pregnant, and the Bakers want to spend some quality time all together for a change. As the family arrives at their old house, however, they realise that some things have changed and some things never do. Tom's old high school rival, Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy) is now the big man about town, owning much of the surrounding area, and raising his large family in a huge home across the lake from the Bakers'. The longstanding competition between the two families or at least that of the fathers mounts over the course of their vacation, as the two men resort to ever nastier tactics of one-upsmanship. Meanwhile, Charlie Baker (Tom Welling) becomes closer with Anne Murtaugh (Jamie King), and Sarah (Alyson Stoner) embarks on her first romance with Eliot Murtaugh (Taylor Lautner). It all comes to a head when the two families face off in a canoeing race, during which they are faced with a decision between loyalty to family and friends, and the competitive edge.