Alexander And The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day - Movie Review
Rating: 3 out of 5
There's nothing wrong with this bright and goofy family comedy, but there's nothing much to it either. As a bit of mindless entertainment, the film is smart and funny enough to keep audiences entertained, spinning a swirling vortex of bad luck and wacky slapstick around one lively family. But it's utterly weightless, without even a hint of an edge, and anyone who loathes either nutty physical gags or sappy sentimentality should steer well clear.
Everyone in the audience can understand how Alexander (Ed Oxenbould) feels: he's fed up with the fact that no one notices that his life is just one humiliation after another, so on his 12th birthday he wishes that his family would have a taste of his misfortune. Sure enough, everything that can go wrong does. Dad Ben (Steve Carell) has to take the baby with him to an important job interview; mom Kelly (Jennifer Garner) has a work event go horribly wrong; teen brother Anthony (Dylan Minnette) struggles to make prom night special for his demanding-diva girlfriend (Bella Thorne); and middle sister Emile (Kerris Dorsey) gets ill on opening night of the school play she's starring in. On the other hand, Alexander's day isn't so bad, as he finally catches the eye of cute girl Becky (Sidney Fullmer).
The plot is laid out as a series of minor calamities that escalate to crazed proportions as the day goes on, but only until the screenwriter decides to have mercy on the characters and let them bond to face the mayhem. Frankly, this is such a wildly happy family that nothing about the film is believable: their problems exist strictly for laughs. Thankful, most of the set pieces are genuinely funny due to the up-for-it actors, who make the most of their characters and the connections between them. There's also a terrific stream of cameo roles for comedy aces like Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), Jennifer Coolidge (American Pie) and Donald Glover (Parks and Recreation). Dick Van Dyke even makes a witty appearance as himself.
At the centre of this all, Oxenbould just about holds things together as the likeable dork whose social outcast status is magically fixed by a series of far-fetched antics. No, the filmmakers aren't interested in layering the humour with knowing observations about Alexander's self-esteem or bullying issues, Kelly's working-mother challenges or Ben's unemployment. This is a colourful and very light comedy that centres on embarrassing clothes, vomit and poo. It's also skilfully assembled to keep a smile on the audience's face and thoughts of the real world far outside the cinema. And sometimes a cheap joke is just what we need.
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Facts and Figures
Year: 2014
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 81 mins
In Theaters: Friday 10th October 2014
Box Office USA: $63.3M
Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures
Production compaines: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures
Reviews
Contactmusic.com: 3 / 5
Rotten Tomatoes: 64%
Fresh: 61 Rotten: 35
IMDB: 6.5 / 10
Cast & Crew
Director: Miguel Arteta
Producer: Lisa Henson, Daniel S. Levine, Shawn Levy
Screenwriter: Rob Lieber
Starring: Bella Thorne as Celia, Steve Carell as Ben, Jennifer Garner as Kelly, Dick Van Dyke as Himself, Jennifer Coolidge as Ms. Suggs, Megan Mullally as Nina, Kerris Dorsey as Emily, Burn Gorman as Mr. Brand, Dylan Minnette as Anthony, Toni Trucks as Steph, Jesse Garcia as Dwayne, Mary Mouser as Audrey Gibson, Samantha Logan as Heather, Eric Edelstein as Mr. Tanucci, Reese C. Hartwig as Elliot, Ed Oxenbould as Alexander
Also starring: Lisa Henson, Shawn Levy