Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: Movie Review
Based on Judith Viorst’s 1972 children’s book, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” tells the story of a family trying to get through the worst day of their lives. Director Miguel Arteta has experience helming more mature comedies like “Cedar Rapids” and “Youth in Revolt”, but this time around, the filmmaker decided to try his hand at a broad family comedy. Unfortunately, I don’t think I laughed once and that’s a shame because good family films are hard to come by in recent years.
Alexander (Ed Oxenbould) is prone to having bad days. His family however seem to just breeze through their days without a problem in the world. The youngest family member is frustrated that his parents and siblings can’t sympathize with his troubles. That is when Alexander makes a wish that his family has one bad day. With this being a movie, of course the wish comes true and each family member goes through their own personal hell of a day.
Alexander’s dad (Steve Carell) has a less than hopeful job interview with a video game company. His mom (Jennifer Garner) gets into some hot water at work. His brother (Dylan Minnette) fails his driving test because he was hoping to be able to drive his date to prom, and his sister (Kerris Dorsey) gets sick on the same day of her high school play. Because this is a Disney movie, the very bad day that each is having will wind up bringing the family closer together.
Despite the more than capable cast, “Alexander” fails to be funny. Carell is giving it his all but the material isn’t helping matters. Oxenbould is likable as Alexander but then again, so is most of the cast. This isn’t a terrible movie and its’ heart is in the right place. I am sure some of the children might enjoy it as well as parents who are very easy to please. The selections in theaters right now for family fare is slim pickings but my advice is to save the family trip to the movies for something better that comes along.
By: Marc Ferman