This movie has a really long title. The movie itself, however, is very short. And in most cases, that's a good thing because, when this happens, I usually stand up in the theater and scream "Hallelujah""¦ but I didn't do it this time. And I don't really do it at all because I'm too scared to try it.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day chronicles the life of a young middle school boy who has a really bad day while his family always seems to have perfect ones. On his birthday, he secretly wishes for them to have a bad day so they know what it feels like and then BOOM! Bad things happen!
Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner lead a likable cast. The film is very earnest in its approach to be a family-friendly film, and there are likeable moments in the story. But that's where the movie stops working. It shouldn't be likable but lovable. And it shouldn't have a few decent moments but many. This story falls way too short of ever becoming a Disney classic. I haven't read the book that the movie is based on. Maybe the book is better. Maybe the movie is exactly like the book"¦ okay, probably not since the book was published in 1972 and is only 32 pages.
The movie works to get you from point A to B, but it doesn't make the experience memorable. Because of the title, you're already expecting the worst to happen, so even as everything plays out on screen, the chaos itself seems underwhelming and controlled. You can't have a messy day if the messiness itself seems under control by the plot. Alex and his family don't make enough choices that deepen the conflict and the events in the story don't keep us in suspense.
But the movie gets it right by showing us how in some bad situations there is good that can come out of it. For a breezy Disney movie, it lacks any magic. Throughout the film, you hear a trickling sound that is supposed to let us know that something magical is about to happen. But I guess that's all the magic the movie could afford.
