Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo must have been having an off day when they signed up for this tiresome comedy. A remake of a 1968 Lucille Ball/Henry Fonda picture, it sees two widowed high-school sweethearts reunite after some 30 years, and then immediately get hitched. The trouble is the mismatched couple have 18 children between them - all unlikeable clones of their respective parents - who refuse to live as one, big happy family. What follows is a repetitive procession of slapstick sequences, as the squabbling youngsters initially make mischief, while uptight military man Quaid and bohemian Russo dispense saccharine sentiment and try to keep the peace. Unfortunately, no amount of rowdy, kiddie chaos can disguise the minuscule plot or give substance to lazy, stereotypical characters. But it's Quaid's constant pratfalls that are the biggest embarrassment, reducing an accomplished actor to a simple clown.

Admiral Frank Beardsley returns to New London to run the Coast Guard Academy, his last stop before a probable promotion to head the Guard. A widower with eight children, he runs a loving but tight ship, with charts and salutes. The kids long for a permanent home. Helen North is a free spirit, a designer whose ten children live in loving chaos, with occasional group hugs. Helen and Frank, high school sweethearts, reconnect at a reunion, and it's love at first re-sighting. They marry on the spot. Then the problems start as two sets of kids, the free spirits and the disciplined preppies, must live together. The warring factions agree to work together to end the marriage.