Alice Upside Down

Alice Upside Down is a 2007 comedy-drama film, based on the Alice series written by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. The film was shot at Bishop DuBourg High School in St. Louis, Missouri. Screened in limited cinema in 2007, it was released wide straight-to-DVD on July 29, 2008. In North America, it aired on Starz Kids & Family, but in the early years, it was on demand. The film centers on Alice, an 11-year-old girl starting the sixth grade at a new school. It starred Alyson Stoner, Lucas Grabeel, Bridgit Mendler, Luke Perry, Penny Marshall, and Ashley Eckstein. Plot Alice McKinley (Alyson Stoner) is an 11-year-old girl who is facing many challenges. Her mother, Marie, died when she was very young, so she never really got to know her. She lives with her brother Lester (Lucas Grabeel) and her father, Ben (Luke Perry). The family moves to a new house, and soon meet their new neighbors, a girl Alice's age named Elizabeth (Parker McKenna Posey) and her mother. The next day Alice goes to school with Elizabeth and runs into a boy named Patrick (Dylan McLaughlin), whom she accidentally walked in on in a dressing room a few days earlier in his underwear. They line up to find their teachers, and Alice wants to be in beautiful Miss Cole's (Ashley Eckstein) class. Instead, she winds up with the seemingly evil (but actually strict and caring) Mrs. Plotkin (Penny Marshall), who gives her a hard time. Alice tries out for a play that Miss Cole's class is directing, and really wants the princess role. However, she is tone-deaf (although her dad is a musician), so she doesn't get the part. Her arch rival Pamela (Bridgit Mendler) gets the role instead, and Alice lands the role of a frog. Pamela hasn't been very nice to Alice ever since she came to school. Alice tells her dad and brother about it, but they end up being discouraging. Her dad opens a new shop, and Alice tries to set up her dad and Miss Cole up, as she's searching for a mother figure to replace the one she lost, but her dad says she is too young for him. Then her dad starts dating a new girl, Kelly, (Jilanne Klaus) and Alice is afraid her father will marry her. One night, Alice sneaks downstairs and sees her father and Kelly kissing, and it really hurts her. Her Aunt Sally (Ann Dowd), who is her mother's older sister, and her husband come to visit. Their father finds Aunt Sally annoying, as she thinks they can't take care of themselves. During the visit, Alice finds a video of her mother, and later watches the video.