My grandmother is one of the original "Dozen" and while it has been flattering that Hollywood has made films about my family in the past, I am hesitant about this upcoming remake of "Cheaper by the Dozen". Apparently the studio owns the rights to the film so they can do whatever they wish to the story but they have changed the story so much that it in no way resembles the actual story, except in title. First of all, the name of the family has been changed as has the number of living children. Only 11 children were in the original story because Mary died of Diptheria at a very young age. The new story has a set of twins (there were no twins) and there are now 7 boys and 5 girls as opposed to the actual 6 & 6 of each. The biggest disappointment is that the real story is about how the parents, who were world famous engineers, managed to educate and raise these children in a very orderly and practical, yet humorous way. Dad was not a football coach and he certinly was not some off the wall father who went nuts trying to run this large household. On the contrary, he and his wife were very organized and ran a very smooth household, with the occasional chaos that any large house endures. The connection between their jobs as engineers and their methods as parents is the whole point of the story and that is why the book and film are classics. It appears that this remake focuses on the chaos of a large family whereas the original point was to show the exact opposite.
I think it is fine to make this movie with everything they have done to the chracters, plot, etc...but they just shouldn't call it "Cheaper By the Dozen" since there is no connection to the real story. Call it something else and you might have a fine film. Will I go see it? Yes, I am sure that I will; I just won't be expecting any similarities. It could be fun. |
