‘Alexander’ and the Not-So-Terrible Family Comedy

For such a dismal title and such abbreviated source material, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day could have easily been a no-good, very bad movie. Luckily, while it’s not fantastic, it’s nowhere near terrible.

Based on the children’s book of the same name by author Judith Viorst, this live-action Disney version (now available on Blu-ray and DVD) follows a day in the life of a 12-year-old boy after his wish that his family would have a really, really terrible day comes true.

Director Miguel Arteta, along with screenwriter Rob Lieber, manages to turn to the book, which was solely about Alexander’s troubles, into a humorous, catastrophe-filled day that affects Alexander’s whole family. While some of the essential elements from the 1972 book are included, like the gum in Alexander’s hair and the kid’s obsession with everything Australian, the one-thing-happens-after-another storyline is updated, amped-up, and zanier.

Early on in the film, on the eve of his 12th birthday, Alexander Cooper (Ed Oxenbould), finds out that the most popular kid in school is having his birthday party on the same day. But Alexander’s family members are all so busy with their own lives that nobody seems pays any attention to his worries.

His mom (Jennifer Garner) is under a lot of stress as a publishing executive in charge of a book launch. His unemployed dad (Steve Carrell) has a big job interview with a video game company and has to take teething baby Trevor with him. On the same exact day, his sister Emily (Kerris Dorsey) is starring as Peter Pan in the school play. His brother Anthony (Dylan Minnette) is dating the most beautiful girl in school, taking his driver’s test, and — if that weren’t enough — also getting ready for the prom. So, when Alexander blows out a candle and invites calamity on each of their lives, a lot can (and does) go very wrong. Along the way, there are kids accidentally drunk on cough syrup, smashed high school trophies, snapping crocodiles, car wrecks, and a disastrous book reading by Dick Van Dyke, just to name a few things.

You manage to feel bad for Alexander and his family, but the movie never crosses over into being a downer. The smorgasbord of awkward moments, rotten luck, and poor decisions are all presented in lighthearted fashion, with attempts at humor always accompanying the bad news.

It should be said that it feels almost impossible to create a successful new movie in this genre, the live-action family comedy targeted at children but designed to simultaneously please teens, tweens, and their parents. Yet Alexander has such a surprising mess of exaggerated slapstick comedy pieces, and enough heart, that it succeeds as much as any live action Disney film of the past decade in pulling it off.

Yes, Carrell is essentially playing the same type of character he (almost) always does, but to his credit, he remains tremendously affable and sincerely funny with his physical comedy skills on full display. Garner, still an underrated talent, is also plenty likeable in her comedic role as Kelly. Plus, she gets to be the only person in the history of Disney movies to say, “I’ve seen the penis of every person in this car,” when she’s screaming at her family during the van ride to school. Minnette and Dorsey aren’t given as much to do, but both teens show real talent and charisma when their characters are given the chance to do something besides panic.

Certainly, there are some scenes that don’t work. A lousy performance at the school play, for example, doesn’t quite register as disastrous as it’s supposed to nor does it produce many laughs. But things move in a frenzied pace during the film’s 80 minutes, so before you know it, Carrell is running around, flailing his arms in a pirate shirt that’s caught on fire and there’s an angry kangaroo outside the Cooper residence. Ironically, it’s Alexander’s character that gets lost in the shuffle during the second half of the movie; only during its closing minutes does the film’s focus really resettle on him as the pity-party turns into the long-awaited birthday party.

As the slapstick winds down, the family bonds and gets through their horrible day in the way that families should (yet rarely) do: together. The obvious lesson here is that everyone has bad days, but those bad days don’t last forever. Ultimately, even though kids will like Disney’s Alexander much more than you, there are many horrible, no-good PG movies out there that don’t say anything half as meaningful, or in such a funny way.