I took my little family of seven children to see Cheaper by the Dozen II last night. I'd give it a 6 (1-10 scale). I gave the first one an 8. Too much of the humor is cornballish, which appealed to my children, but then it used a few vulgarities. It's almost like the writers/directors couldn't make up their mind: "Do we want humor that appeals to 10-year-olds or do we want some swear words so teenagers know we're cool?"
But overall, it's a pro-family movie, notwithstanding the odd choice to give Tom Baker's nemesis, Jimmy Murtaugh, eight children and a third wife (the attractive Carmen Electra). The movie doesn't say whether the third wife is the result of death and/or divorce, but given that Murtaugh is in his early sixties and a highly-ambitious and successful man, Electra is a trophy bride, and that implies divorce from the second wife. The movie could've easily "killed" Murtaugh's first wife after 25 years of marriage, and then given Murtaugh the trophy bride, but that would be too pro-family. I suspect the producers wanted the specter of divorce lingering over the movie, just like they threw in Tom Baker's obligatory vasectomy in the first one.
Being pro-family is one thing, but a Hollywood type doesn't want to go too far.
