Cheaper by the Dozen

Not so much a remake of the 1950 original (which, needless to say, did not include the aforementioned Killer Moment), but an updated reinvention, ''Cheaper'' finds Steve Martin again doing the ''Parenthood'' thing, as a college football coach and dad to 12 kids. Things turn slapsticky when Martin's author wife (Bonnie Hunt, who penned an early draft of the screenplay) goes on tour for her new book, leaving him home alone with their brood. ''This is a very different movie from the original -- the character is different, the situation different, the crisis is different,'' says Martin, who agreed to star after superproducer Brian Grazer vouched for Shawn Levy, the up-and-coming helmer behind ''Just Married'' and ''Big Fat Liar.'' Ashton Kutcher’s canine crotchcapades aside, ''Cheaper'' milks many of its yuks from Martin and Hunt's quick-witted interplay. Says Levy, “They riff so cleverly, most of us are playing catch-up.”

The Killer Moment After his underwear gets soaked in a vat of meat, Kutcher (making a cameo) gets some unwanted below-the-belt attention from the family dog.

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