Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Plot

Living in suburban Los Angeles, Alexander Cooper often feels left out by his family: baby brother Trevor; older brother Anthony; older sister Emily; and their parents, Ben and Kelly.

Anthony is trying to pass his driving test so he can drive his demanding and sharp-tongued girlfriend, Celia Rodriguez, to the junior prom; Emily is rehearsing for the title role in her school play, Peter Pan; Kelly works for a publication company and is working on a new children's book which will get her promoted to vice-president; Ben, who has been unemployed for seven months, has landed an interview for a job as a video game designer.

That morning, Alexander experiences a series of mishaps at school: accidentally setting fire to his crush Becky Gibson's notebook; her younger brother, Elliott, sends a humiliating photoshopped image of him to the whole school; and he finds out that his friends – including Becky, and even his best friend Paul – will all be attending Philip Parker's 12th birthday party, instead of his the next day, due to Philip's expensive party entertainment and popularity. When he tries to tell his family about his bad day, however, nobody is very sympathetic due to being focused on the good things happening to them. That night, he puts a candle on a homemade birthday sundae, wishing that everyone in his family could know what it's like to have a bad day (so they could relate to what he is going through).

The next morning, Alexander wakes up to find the rest of his family in chaotic disarray: Ben and Kelly have overslept; Emily has a cold from rehearsing in Kelly's car; Celia has broken up with Anthony, due to her overhearing and misinterpreting a conversation between him and Alexander the night before. Anthony also finds a giant zit on his forehead. Kelly's car is dead, due to Emily having left the light on the previous night, draining the battery. Ben has to take Trevor with him to his interview, after dropping Kelly off at work. At school, Alexander learns that Philip's birthday party has been canceled because he has come down with the chickenpox; Becky and Paul, along with all the other kids who had originally planned to attend it, will attend Alexander's instead.

Delighted, Alexander tells Ben about Philip and that Elliott had gotten busted for texting the photos of Alexander. He then excitedly asks Ben to plan a party for him. Meanwhile, Kelly is informed of an embarrassing typo in the book they are publicizing. The title is supposed to be "Jump on the Potty", but the typo has it say "Dump on the Potty" instead. She attempts to get to a public event in time to prevent Dick Van Dyke from reading it. Ben takes Trevor with him to his interview; his prospective boss, Greg, seems impressed by his credentials. However, they decide to hold another meeting, after Trevor ingests a non-toxic green highlighter. Back at school, Anthony reconciles with Celia. He jumps up in excitement, but accidentally hits a banner which is attached to two trophy cases, causing them to come crashing down, leading to him being sent to the principal and getting suspended.

Production

In 2011, 20th Century Fox initially planned to make a live-action film adaptation of the book. Written by Rob Lieber, it was set to be directed by Lisa Cholodenko (who also made an earlier draft of the screenplay), and produced by Shawn Levy with Dan Levine for Levy's 21 Laps and Lisa Henson from The Jim Henson Company. Steve Carell joined in April 2012, to star as Ben. In October 2012, the project was picked up by Walt Disney Pictures after Fox was reportedly "uncomfortable with the budget". By February 2013, Cholodenko had left the project, and a month later, it was reported that Miguel Arteta was in talks with Disney to replace her.

In April 2013, Jennifer Garner was in talks to play Kelly. In June 2013, Disney set the release date for October 10, 2014, and confirmed that Carell and Garner were cast as Ben and Kelly. The same month, Disney announced the casting of Ed Oxenbould as Alexander. In July 2013, Bella Thorne was cast in the film as Celia. Joel Johnstone, Megan Mullally, and Jennifer Coolidge joined the cast a month later.

Principal photography began on August 19, 2013. The film was entirely shot in the Los Angeles area, including the cities of Pasadena and Arcadia, the San Fernando Valley, and Melody Ranch in Newhall. Filming lasted through October 2013.

Release

The film premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on October 6, 2014.

Home media

The film was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray on January 27, 2015. It debuted at the top of the home video chart in its first week.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $67 million in the United States and Canada, and $34.4 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $101.4 million.

In North America, the film earned $5.2 million on its opening day and $18.3 million in its opening weekend, placing third behind Gone Girl and Dracula Untold. In its second weekend, it dropped to number four, grossing an additional $11.4 million. In its third weekend, it dropped to number seven, grossing $7.1 million. In its fourth weekend, it dropped to number eight, grossing $6.5 million.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 62% of 118 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Affably pleasant without ever trying to be anything more, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a fine—albeit forgettable—family diversion."Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, saying "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day could have been a lot more horrible and no good than it is." Stephen Whitty of the Newark Star-Ledger gave the film three out of four stars, saying "It's Arteta's ease with generating that slight sense of social awkwardness that makes "Alexander" a cut above the usual live-action family comedy." Alonso Duralde of The Wrap gave the film a negative review, saying "These characters should have to suffer twice as many embarrassments if they want to earn all those adjectives in the title." Sherilyn Connelly of The Village Voice gave the film a negative review, saying "Everything that can go wrong does, and while it has its moments, Miguel Arteta's comedy relies too much on gender-shaming and emasculation jokes."

John Hartl of The Seattle Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "The movie is so over-the-top that it makes little narrative sense, but it's often successful in its naked pursuit of belly laughs." Katie Rife of The A.V. Club gave the film a B, saying "Alexander is a watchable, affable, pretty good, well-done kids' movie buoyed by a humorous script and talented cast." Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film three out of five stars, saying "It turns out the film is not terrible or horrible or very bad. No good? Not that, either."

Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "It may have the year's longest title, but Alexander's movie is not terrible, horrible, or even half bad. In fact, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a pleasant, entertaining way to spend just under 90 minutes, particularly if accompanied by children." Sandie Angulo Chen of The Washington Post gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Even the bathroom humor is forgivable when the end result is a crowd-pleasing comedy and a surprisingly entertaining treat for the whole family." Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, a Disney film, stretches the book thinner than pizza dough and feels about as nutritious. Still, its intentions are good and so is its cast, particularly Ed Oxenbould, a bright-eyed, expressive 13-year-old making his screen debut as Alexander Cooper." Bruce Demara of the Toronto Star gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Director Miguel Arteta, whose previous work is a mixed bag of television and film, gets almost everything right here, including bringing together a solid cast." A.O. Scott of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, saying "'Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is the latest example of a wonderful children's book turned into a mediocre movie. This kind of thing happens so frequently — exceptions like Where the Wild Things Are and, arguably, Shrek prove the rule upheld by every recent big-screen Dr. Seuss adaptation — that you could almost believe that there is malice involved."

Soundtrack

On April 1, 2014, Christophe Beck was hired to score the film. Walt Disney Records released the EP soundtrack album on October 7, 2014. It features songs from the film, and new tracks by various artists, like The Vamps, Kerris and Justine Dorsey, The Narwhals, Charles William, and IDK & The Whatevs.

Reboot

In December 2020, Disney hired writer Matt Lopez to pen a sequel to the film for Disney+. It follows a similar plot, but instead focuses on a "multigenerational Latino family". 21 Laps Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company are also set to return. In October 2022, Marvin Lemus signed on to direct while Eva Longoria was cast as Alexander's mother. The new film features the family going on a road trip. By March 2024, its title was changed to Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip.