What's more, in the year that already brought us "Freaky Friday," it's another remake of a gimmicky film that tries to wring genuine emotion and laughs from scenes that feel like they've been ripped out of an Erma Bombeck book.

Martin plays Tom Baker, the fooball coach at a rural college who raises 12 kids with his wife, an aspiring novelist played by Bonnie Hunt. The family lives in a large, isolated house and the kids range in age from an elementary-school tyke to out-on-her-own adult Piper Perabo. In a clever opening, Hunt narrates a montage that economically explains how the family got into this predicament after planning for "only" eight kids (a mix of a post-vasectomy misunderstanding and the birth of twins). The rest of the film follows the family's travails as they move to Chicago to follow Tom's dream job coaching a big university team.

"Cheaper" is not a silly goof like "Daddy Day Care;" it admirably eschews the easy gross-outs and sight gags that the film's rambunctious trailer builds expectations for. But neither is it particularly funny nor especially heartfelt. By the end, in fact, you'll probably be sick of hearing the word "family." "Cheaper by the Dozen" wants you to know that Family is Important, Family Sticks Together, Family is Family and, this unexpected pearl: Family Comes First.

That's a lot of treacle for a film that could have been more charming if it had fewer lessons to impart. Martin is reassuringly energetic and steady, given his embarrassing recent performances in "Bringing Down the House" and "Looney Tunes: Back in Action." He's got an ace of a co-star in Bonnie Hunt, who, as in her eponymous TV show, handles the rhythms of a packed house with humor. Hunt is quick with a seemingly ad-libbed line, bringing fresh life to otherwise listless scenes. What's more, she makes you believe she and Martin are still in love long after the laws of biology and physical space would have driven most couples to bitter recriminations.

But rather than focus on their chemistry, "Cheaper" keeps piling on kiddie misadventures, like a plan to embarrass the older daughter's boyfriend (an uncredited Ashton Kutcher) by soaking his boxer shorts in hamburger meat. (The neighborhood dogs come running.) Even so, the kids, except for established stars Hilary Duff (annoying, extraneous) and Tom Welling (who has mastered teen moping as a young Superman on "Smallville") mostly fade into the background as the film stretches credulity with each passing scene.

A college football team that practices on the coach's front lawn? A well-to-do family of 14 with no live-in help? A couple with a house full of hyperactive kids who shop at Crate and Barrel? (If you have 12 kids, you're not shopping at Crate and Barrel for wicker furniture and matching table settings. You're hitting Wal-Mart for cheap futons and spill-proof cups.)

"Cheaper by the Dozen" is an inoffensive, sometimes amusing low-tech family film in a season of hobbits, haunted mansions and cats in hats who'll drive you bats. But it's a film that says nothing that any typical family sitcom doesn't say every week, and says it to an adult contemporary soundtrack you might hear at Old Navy.