Mayhem And Mirth

Newcastle Herald

Friday April 14, 2006

By JAMES JOYCE

REVIEW

YOURS, MINE & OURS (PG)

Director: Raja Gosnell

Stars: Dennis Quaid, Rene Russo

Screening: General release

Rating: * * *

FORMER high school sweethearts Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo, both now widowed, hook up at their high school reunion and, on the sort of romantic impulse that only happens in the movies, they get married that very night.

Needless to say their children are shocked and outraged.

And, between them, the couple have 18 kids.

Yes, it's Cheaper By The Dozen-and-a-Half, but unlike Steve Martin's recent Cheaper sequel, Yours, Mine & Ours is a delight that will charm under-10s and their parents.

Sure, the scenario (based on the 1968 film starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda) is utterly preposterous but Quaid and Russo make a handsome, charming couple and the kids have personalities just screaming out to clash.

Quaid's character is a military man cut in the Von Trapp mould, demanding discipline from his clean-cut, obedient offspring. Russo is a hippie designer who prefers group hugs to barking orders at her free-spirited brats.

Cue domestic dysfunction, breakfast mayhem and big burps from the pet pig as the two incompatible broods collide under one roof.

Of course, by the time they've finished working together on their elaborate plan to drive their parents apart the kids realise that . . . well, you can probably guess the rest.

Yes, it's predictable but it's also warm and cheerful, and did we mention it has a burping pig?

© 2006 Newcastle Herald

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