Film Review: ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’

That’s quite the title, eh? Guaranteed to jump into the American lexicon and pop back out next election: “Republican challenger has terrible, horrible, no good, very bad debate,” and so on.
Mark Jackson
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That’s quite the title, eh? Guaranteed to jump into the American lexicon and pop back out next election: “Republican challenger has terrible, horrible, no good, very bad debate,” and so on.

Based on a popular short book for kids, the movie’s basically a feature-length adaptation, with Alexander’s “no good, very bad day” padded out to include his entire family. Too bad the movie version’s not as memorable as the book and the title.

On a positive note, it’s the rare current kid movie made with real actors instead of animation. Unfortunately, it’s not remotely adult-funny. That’s OK. Parents suffer. It’s what they do. Go and suffer for the kids.

Titular Bad Day

On the day prior to his very bad day (which happens to be his 12th birthday), Alexander (Ed Oxenbould), a somewhat proactive (ahem—pushy) child who speaks with a pronounced lisp, discovers that the superrich kid in his grade is having a much cooler party than his own. Same night. Everbody’s gonna be there. His blonde heartthrob won’t respect him! He'll be Alexander the loser for sure.

What else will happen on this day? His mother (Jennifer Garner) will supervise Dick Van Dyke reading a kids’ book, featuring the word “jump.” About all the places a kid could take a jump (like, in a lake). What could possibly go wrong with that, provided the printing press doesn’t misprint the letter “J”?

The always-positive dad (Steve Carell) loses his cool in "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." With Kerris Dorsey and Jennifer Garner. (Dale Robinette/Disney Enterprises)
The always-positive dad (Steve Carell) loses his cool in "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." With Kerris Dorsey and Jennifer Garner. Dale Robinette/Disney Enterprises
Mark Jackson
Mark Jackson
Film Critic
Mark Jackson is the chief film critic for The Epoch Times. In addition to film, he enjoys martial arts, motorcycles, rock-climbing, qigong, and human rights activism. Jackson earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Williams College, followed by 20 years' experience as a New York professional actor. He narrated The Epoch Times audiobook "How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World," available on iTunes, Audible, and YouTube. Mark is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
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