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Director: Miguel Arteta

Writer: Rob Lieber

Runtime: 81 min

Main Cast:

• Bella Thorne as Celia
• Jennifer Garner as Kelly
• Steve Carell as Ben
• Kerris as Dorsey as emily
• Jennifer Coolidge as Ms. Suggs
• Megan Mullally as Nina
• Dylan Minnette as Anthony
• Ed Oxenbould as Alexander

Review: by Anthony and Lee

A wholesome family movie from Disney, based upon the popular children's book, starring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner? Count us in!

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Adapted from Judith Viorst’s 1972 children’s book of the same title, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day starts off with 11 year old Alexander having the worst day imaginable.  Things don’t get any better as the day progresses, and, after having to hear his siblings and parents go on and on about their seemingly perfect lives, he wishes that they could experience just one day like his.

What We Liked:

As much as we enjoy a good thriller or any of the more recent comedies starring the likes of Jason Bateman, it’s refreshing to watch a good kids’ movie from time to time.

Aside from a brief joke about the mom (Jennifer Garner) walking in on somebody in the bathroom, this was a truly safe comedy to watch with your entire family.

The child actors did surprisingly good jobs in their role.  Delivering their comedic lines perfectly, they looked completely natural and did not appear awkward unless the scene called for it.

Not taking anything away from the child stars, Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner were also good in their roles.  Carell always surprises us with the range of roles he undertakes and how convincing he is in those roles.  Thinking back to him in The Way Way Back, or even Little Miss Sunshine, and comparing that to his role as this awesome stay-at-home dad in Very Bad Day just shows that he can play virtually any role.

There were a surprising number of cameos in Very Bad Day that we enjoyed as well.  We won’t spoil who those actors/actresses were, but we were pleased to see them pop up, and the time they had on screen made us chuckle.

Very Bad Day was a quick 81 minutes which is great for a kids movie.  For kids with short attention spans and adults that enjoy a movie that keeps the story moving, this run time was perfect.

What We Didn’t Like:

There was not really anything to dislike about the movie, considering that we had no expectations going into the movie.  Neither of us had read the book in at least a very long time, so we couldn’t even gripe about the inconsistencies.  The only thing either of us remembered was that Alexander got gum stuck in his hair on his bad day, and that was in the movie.

If anything, we can only say that it could have been funnier.  That is not to say the movie was not funny, but it could have stood to be funnier still.  There was nothing spectacular or outstanding about it.

Images Courtesy of IMDB