A big family is a strong comic premise, and Lerner takes a buoyant, energetic approach.

It’s kinda like a movie. Kinda like a sitcom. Not really either. But its sweet emotions and modern sensibilities eventually make it endearing.

Its tone wavers even more haphazardly from kids flick to marriage portrait to slapstick comedy to stark commentary on race, without nailing any particularly well and despite endearing commitment from its performers.

Cheaper by the Dozen is one big missed opportunity. Braff and Union are great together, but the movie wants to do too much, with too little, hindering every good opportunity it has for something awfully familiar and too predictable for its own good.