Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is a 2005 film starring Steve Martin about him, his wife and their twelve kids. Count 'em, twelve.
It is a sequel to 2003's Cheaper by The Dozen, running with basically the same premise but a different plot, in which the family goes to a lake for a vacation but run into an old rival of Dad's with a big family of his own. Naturally, everyone else ends up hitting it off well, which ultimately leads out to some fallout with the fathers and their families, but they make up in time to win a contest. Meanwhile, the oldest daughter gives birth to her first child.
This film provides examples of:
- Back-to-Back Poster: Used in the posters, featuring Steve Martin and Eugene Levy standing back-to-back. One poster features the two men holding water guns with their respective broods standing behind them, while another features a close-up of the two men holding photos of their children up to the camera. Martin and Levy are playing fathers of rival families at a competition, and the competitiveness of the two fathers is apparent in these posters.
- Call-Back: When he gets fed up with Jimmy, Tom asks Sarah if she's still "in touch with [her] dark talents." She sets up the same meat trick she pulled in the first movie.
- Demoted to Extra: Mark. He was the main character, aside from the parents, in the first movie, but is barely in this one.
- Disaster Dominoes: The destruction of the clam bake. It all starts when Mark absentmindedly sets his backpack full of fireworks next to an open flame.
- Empty Nest: Tom is hit with a bit of this at the beginning. Lorraine has graduated high school and is about to join Charlie and Nora in moving out. Meanwhile, most of younger kids have aged to the point they can be more independent and want to socialize with their peers instead of the family.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Mark never even mentions his frog.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Lorraine and Sarah have entered this even deeper than in the first film.
- Hidden Depths: Sarina is initially presented as Jimmy's Dumb Blonde trophy wife, but she truly wants to be a good mother to her stepkids. When she sees the wedge that Jimmy's pressuring and obsession with upping Tom is driving between himself and his kids, she sets him straight.
- Lots of Luggage: When Lorraine shows up at the cabin, Sarah keeps jabbing at her for her huge suitcase. "So is this one just for your makeup?"
- Stealth Pun: Nora has her baby on Labor Day.
- Unlucky Extra: The poor old man in the wheelchair. Every time he's on screen, he somehow gets pushed into the water. You think he would put on his parking brake, or have someone park him in a less precarious spot.
