Ray J's Review - "Cheaper By The Dozen" (2022 - Disney +)

Good evening everyone! Here is my review of the just released, Disney + "Cheaper By The Dozen" remake, starring Zach Braff, and Gabrielle Union🙂

Just putting this confession out there before I begin my review: I haven never seen the original "Cheaper By The Dozen" - only the remake & it's sequel from 2003/2005 starring Steve Martin, and Bonnie Hunt.

In this definitely "cheaper" looking, updated modern day re-telling, the Baker's, a blended family consisting of: Dad, Paul (played by Zach Braff), Mom, Zoey (played by Gabrielle Union), the kids: Deja (played by Journee Brown), Ella (played by Kylie Rogers), DJ (played by Andre Robinson), Harley (played by Caylee Blosenski), Haresh (played by Aryan Simhadri), Luca (played by Leo A. Perry), Luna (played by Mykal-Michelle Harris), Bailey (played by Christian Cote), and Bronx (played by Sebastian Cote). Life in the Baker house-hold can get hectic, but they make it work. They Baker's even all work together at their family owned restaurant, a breakfast served all day establishment that was originally founded by Paul. With the kids growing up, looking at colleges, and their house seeming to get smaller by the minute, Paul takes a chance on presenting his specialty sauce that he concocts to a duo of twin sister entrepreneurs, Melanie and Michele (played by Brittany and Cynthia Daniel). To his surprise, the twins make him an offer and write him a pretty hefty check. Next thing you know, the Baker's are up and outta their tightly packed New Jersey home, and off to California where they move into a HUGE gated mansion. While some of the kiddos aren't exactly ecstatic about up and moving to a new state, and beginning at new school's, private school's at that, they begin to have some more positive feels once they get a look at this house....cuzzz🤩👀 However, Zoey begins to get a very judgmental vibe from the neighborhood, and she soon learns that some of the neighbors definitely don't have their priorities together😒 Having only just settled into their stunning new home, they suddenly get a frantic call from a loved one, and just like that, another Baker is added to the mix. Seth Baker (played by Luke Prael), Paul and Zoey's nephew, a troubled teen, whose mom has been in and out of rehab all of his life, comes to live with them. The house is full, and Paul is gone more often, so Zoey begins to get to know some of the snooty housewives who reside in their new neighborhood. Although some of them aren't as distasteful as the others. Even though she is doing a BOSS of a job, Zoey soon finds herself struggling to deal with and understand the everyday issues that the kids are enduring at their new school's, and finding it even harder to do so with the boys since Paul is gone so much. Sooner or later, Paul and Zoey will have to make some tough decisions regarding the potential growth of the business, and what's best for their family.

While "Cheaper By The Dozen" (2022) is nothing spectacular by any means, I personally found it to be an easy watch. The kids in the early 2000's remakes definitely had more personality, and I feel like the story here definitely focuses more on the parents/co-parents here, but honestly that's one of the film's strongest quality's.

While some of the messages can feel a bit preachy, and on the woke side, I appreciated that this 2022 version of The Baker's was a blended family and that there was some nice subject matter on co-parenting. Being a blended family, and having all the parents get along is very important, and if they can make it work then that is truly a beautiful thing 🙂

Gabrielle Union as Zoey is by far the standout in the film, and in my opinion puts on the best performance! I also thought that Aryan Simhadri as Haresh was great as well, and his story arc is of importance.

Consensus: "Cheaper By The Dozen" (2022) features some meaningful commentary on blended families, and co-parenting☺️ Not a must watch, but an easy watch. Gabrielle Union stands out amongst the more than a dozen cast!

The Ray J's Reviews rating is

3.5 out of 5 lime green hearts💚💚💚 & 1/2