Truth be told, I watched this Disney+ remake fully expecting to hate it… since I’m too cool for Cheaper by the Dozen ‘n all. But I didn’t. What can I say… sometimes you bite the mouse, sometimes the mouse bites you.

Cheaper by the Dozen is the second remake of the original 1950 film (which I haven’t seen). This time it’s about a blended family led by Zack Braff and Gabriel Union. And the kids are legion (and nobody I know).

And, yeah, I realized while watching this perfectly fine family film that, you know, it ain’t bad. It’s a perfectly enjoyable, fluffy, sometimes funny, sometimes moving family film. Given the quality of movies like this, just not being terrible, eye-rolling, or cringe child humor is enough.

The film also has grown-up conversations about race given their mixed marriage and multi-cultural family. And that works too since it’s played pretty upfront and involves concerns of both white folk and black folk. It wasn’t overdone or overly misplaced.

All in all, my cynical side washed away and I just enjoyed this cute, sweet film. The stakes weren’t super high and, of course, some of the kids are relegated to guest stars, but it’s a nice, charming effort. Disney has done worse and far more Disney Channel cheap by its 20th Century Fox acquisitions.

Score: 82