Why Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a mediocre, forgettable kids’ flick
MOVIE REVIEW: Young Australian actor Ed Oxenbould stars alongside Jennifer Garner and Steve Carell — but their star power can’t save this Disney film.
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ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY [PG]
Rating: 2/5
Director: Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl)
Starring:Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Ed Oxenbould, Dylan Minnette
“He’s a lacklustre luck-lacker”
Back in the 1970s, author Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day sold in the millions worldwide.
It was the clever, non-cloying tale of a kid who’d had it up to here with having a tough time of it, and did something about it.
Though the same plotting principle applies in this Disney adaptation of the book, the movie makes a conspicuous effort to stay away from the clever stuff. And it can all turn to mushy goo at a second’s notice.
Alexander Cooper (played by young Australian actor Ed Oxenbould) is a 12-year-old American boy whose everyday life is packed with trials, tribulations and trip-overs.
While everything good just happens like clockwork to the rest of his family, Alexander never, ever gets an even break.
Just once, he wishes, why can’t the tables be turned?
Sure enough, on the day canvassed by this movie’s epic title, Alexander catches every lucky break he so surely deserves.
Meanwhile, all the other Coopers receive a taste of the unlucky medicine Alexander has had to swallow for years.
This just happens to be the day Dad (Steve Carell, barely trying here) has an all-important job interview, and Mum (Jennifer Garner) is supervising a crucial celebrity book launch.
Sister Emily (Kerris Dorsey) is poised to make a star debut in the school play. Brother Anthony (Dylan Minnette) is taking the best-looking girl in his class to the prom.
Uh-oh.
In all honesty, there really isn’t enough worthwhile material here to earn this well-meaning, but mediocre movie a pass mark.
The better children movies we know and love revel in a spontaneity that continually promises anything could happen at any moment.
Sadly, all the life and vitality of the original book rarely surfaces in this average adaptation. Many of the antics of Alexander and his clan - a likable enough bunch - come across as too processed, too contrived and far too rehearsed.
Compared to other recent offerings worth the price of admission in this genre - especially the clearly superior Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies - this forgettable effort rarely offers anything of value.
Originally published as Why Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a mediocre, forgettable kids’ flick
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