Yours, Mine and Ours has some fatal flaws that for most (especially critics) destroyed the film (although it's made more than it's fair share of profit.) The film is brutally predictable and not only that but is far from a new concept coming along on the heels and in front of the Cheaper By The Dozen series. The single only difference is double the children. Unfortunately as cute as that sounds there is just too many cast members. There are so many children that only a small few of them ever get to show off their characters. The film still aims for the exact same comedy as Cheaper By The Dozen did...physical comedy usually involving the fact that so many children are under the same roof. The only plot variation is that these kids are trying to break up their new found parents because they hate each other.
Dennis Quaid is by the book Navy Admiral Frank Beardsley. Quaid is always a terrific leading man and he can do action, drama, and also comedy including some very funny physical comedy and pulls it off flawlessly. He is in fact one of the highlights of this film and certainly brings the most ability to the cast. Rene Russo is free spirited and less regimented new wife Helen North who brings her 10 kids (6 adopted, 4 of her own) to the chaos. Russo is a good actress with a lot of experience and she nails a lot of big roles opposite basically every leading man in Hollywood but doesn't necessarily make her great. Her acting is a bit dry and over performed in this film. She borders on annoying and if I were Quaid I would have ran for the hills...High School sweetheart or not. The kids...well the kids do well but there is so darn many of them that none of them ever get the opportunity to really stand out with perhaps the exception of Sean Faris who plays eldest son William who plays a strong character but looks too old to be doing the things he gets involved with and the young twins Brecken and Bridger Palmer who are adorable and the perfect trouble makers. Again all the kids do a fine job but there is way too many parts to make any difference.
The film beginning to end is complete chaos with a hint of a decent storyline but everything moves at such break neck speed. Quaid and Russo meet and marry in about thirty seconds and how much money would these guys actually need to support a family of TWENTY?? Plus housekeeper, pig, dog, hamster etc. Russo and Quaid do have decent chemistry and Quaid's character is a good character and a good father and some of the cute moments are exactly that...cute...but not overly funny. Little kids will probably like the chaotic kids running wild fun but for most adults it'll get old quick. I will say as predictable and clearly mapped out as the film is the ending is still warm and fuzzy and will make you smile...any good feel good family flick should do that. It's not something you should avoid, it's not as bad as critics say it is but it's mostly just a cute little family flick. 7/10
Dennis Quaid is by the book Navy Admiral Frank Beardsley. Quaid is always a terrific leading man and he can do action, drama, and also comedy including some very funny physical comedy and pulls it off flawlessly. He is in fact one of the highlights of this film and certainly brings the most ability to the cast. Rene Russo is free spirited and less regimented new wife Helen North who brings her 10 kids (6 adopted, 4 of her own) to the chaos. Russo is a good actress with a lot of experience and she nails a lot of big roles opposite basically every leading man in Hollywood but doesn't necessarily make her great. Her acting is a bit dry and over performed in this film. She borders on annoying and if I were Quaid I would have ran for the hills...High School sweetheart or not. The kids...well the kids do well but there is so darn many of them that none of them ever get the opportunity to really stand out with perhaps the exception of Sean Faris who plays eldest son William who plays a strong character but looks too old to be doing the things he gets involved with and the young twins Brecken and Bridger Palmer who are adorable and the perfect trouble makers. Again all the kids do a fine job but there is way too many parts to make any difference.
The film beginning to end is complete chaos with a hint of a decent storyline but everything moves at such break neck speed. Quaid and Russo meet and marry in about thirty seconds and how much money would these guys actually need to support a family of TWENTY?? Plus housekeeper, pig, dog, hamster etc. Russo and Quaid do have decent chemistry and Quaid's character is a good character and a good father and some of the cute moments are exactly that...cute...but not overly funny. Little kids will probably like the chaotic kids running wild fun but for most adults it'll get old quick. I will say as predictable and clearly mapped out as the film is the ending is still warm and fuzzy and will make you smile...any good feel good family flick should do that. It's not something you should avoid, it's not as bad as critics say it is but it's mostly just a cute little family flick. 7/10