Last night, I hit up a preview of Disney’s newest movie, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It was a rare, me only, movie experience. Since it was a later showing and not animated, I left Mr. A at home.
I went it hoping for a cute, lighthearted family movie and that’s exactly what I got.
The movie follows the exploits of 11-year-old Alexander (Ed Oxenbould) as he experiences the most terrible and horrible day of his young life—a day that begins with gum stuck in his hair, followed by one calamity after another. But when Alexander tells his upbeat family about the misadventures of his disastrous day, he finds little sympathy and begins to wonder if bad things only happen to him. He soon learns that he’s not alone when his mom (Jennifer Garner), dad (Steve Carell), brother (Dylan Minnette) and sister (Kerris Dorsey) all find themselves living through their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Anyone who says there is no such thing as a bad day just hasn’t had one.
There were many laugh out loud moments as well as a few “cover my face” cringe worthy ones. With Steve Carell, you have to expect that. I thought he and Jennifer Garner were delightful and relatable as the parents.
Overall, the film is cute. Of course everything that can go wrong, does go wrong and after awhile it felt a bit forced. Maybe that’s just because I can’t imagine a family having that many major events in one day (major career launch, job interview, birthday party, prom and a school play.) No one is possible naive enough to think that could actually work right?
Still, I enjoyed the movie.
Should I take my kids?
I vote yes for all kids 8 and up. If I had taken Mr. A, I think he would have been bored. There’s no foul language, but it should be noted that both there is a bit of bathroom humor, and both “butt” and “penis” are mentioned. It also gives an opportunity for discussion with your children after the show about the difference between real life and the movies. (In the movies, a kid can wreck a parents car without any freaking out on them, in real life? Not so much.)
The bottom line is that bad days happen and this film is a great albeit exaggerated example of how to show kids that life does, indeed, go on.
The film opens Friday nationwide, is rated PG and has a run time of 81 minutes.
Haven’t read the book? Get it on Amazon! I promise your young ones will love it.
This post contains an affiliate link. I received a complementary tickets to the movie. All opinions are my own.
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