Steve Martin, centre, returns for fun that's anything but wild and crazy in Cheaper by the Dozen 2. The sequel is out on DVD.

Steve Martin once starred in The Man with Two Brains. Coincidentally, that's two more than is required by Cheaper by the Dozen 2, the aging comedian's latest cinematic love letter to his pocketbook.

To be fair, Martin's got to eat, too -- and Shop Girl, the subtle, thoughtful dramedy he wrote and acted in last year grossed about what this dopey lobotomized family comedy made in its opening weekend. In other words, don't blame him -- blame the moviegoers who forked over their shillings to sit through a comedy even Chevy Chase wouldn't put on his resume.

Not that Martin's the only talent slumming in this silly, plastic follow-up. Reprising her role as his wife is Bonnie Hunt and joining the cast, as a rival dad to Martin's character, is the durably-deft Eugene Levy, who can make you laugh at the worst of times (i.e.: sitting through The Man).

Picking up where the 2003 original left off, Martin returns as football coach Tom Baker, patriarch of a brood of sitcom-ready kids, who, suffering from empty-nest syndrome, Tom rents the lakefront cabin the Bakers used to spend their summers at. Alas, time hasn't been kind -- the place is rundown and Tom's childhood nemesis, Jimmy Murtaugh (Levy), now lives across the lake with his own legion of eight, along with his third wife (the ever-artificially buoyant Carmen Electra).

Naturally, the Bakers and Murtaughs clash. Just as naturally -- or should I say predictably -- the family feud leads to endless pratfalls (Martin supplies the film's slapstick quotient) and a Romeo and Juliet-esque romance between Tom Welling's Charlie and the oldest Murtaugh girl (Jaime King). Duff doesn't have much to do here -- she's more sullen than sunny. Maybe she was just as depressed as we were seeing Martin, still a comic ace when he chooses to be, take shots to the groin for cheap -- and cheaper -- laughs.

EXTRAS: The DVD arrives in both widescreen and full screen versions and includes director's commentary and behind-the-scene featurettes.

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2

STARS: Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt,

Eugene Levy and Hilary Duff

DIRECTED BY: Adam Shankman

IN BRIEF: Martin and Hunt return as the parents of a large brood of kids in this sequel to the hit 2003 family comedy.

RATING: 1 out of 5