For WMTV's Ramble On April issue, I designed and lead the whole publication, while also writing a piece about Cheaper by the Dozen. The story in original format can be found here.
Twentieth Century Fox is lying to you.
The opening voiceover by Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt) of the 2003 film, Cheaper by the Dozen, is as follows: “Twelve is our number. It’s the number of games my husband, Tom, coaches at Lincoln College every season. It’s the number of times we zero out our bank account each year to make ends meet. And it’s the number of kids we try to keep track of.” The fact that the Baker family needs to zero out their bank account twelve times per year begs the question: is it really cheaper by the dozen?
Our story starts out with Tom Baker (Steve Martin) on a random jog throughout town before he returns home to his wife, Kate. Tom is a father of 12, and he works as a football coach at Lincoln University, which I looked up and that makes around $47,500 per year. Kate Baker was an aspiring sports journalist who somehow got an entry-level job at the Chicago Tribune fresh out of college, but she gave this up to stay at home to look after the family in her early 20s. They live in the country in Midland, Illinois, where houses go for around $91,000 - $271,000. Now, the idea that Tom’s salary is enough to afford this, allowances for the kids, Sarah’s (Alison Stoner) lacrosse practices, Henry’s (Kevin G. Schmidt) clarinet lessons, and so much more is highly unlikely. Towards the beginning of the film, Lorraine (Hillary Duff) announces that it is one of her goals “to indicate to the local community that the Baker family actually owns a bar of soap.” Honey, I don’t think your family can afford that. I mean, their food expenses must be through the roof that Mike (Blake Woodruff) likes to hang off of with a harness.
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