{"id":703,"date":"2014-10-10T14:19:44","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T14:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/?p=703"},"modified":"2014-10-10T21:56:59","modified_gmt":"2014-10-10T21:56:59","slug":"alexanders-bad-day-is-good-for-everyone-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2014\/10\/alexanders-bad-day-is-good-for-everyone-else.html","title":{"rendered":"‘Alexander\u2019s Bad Day’ is Good for Everyone Else"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jennifer<\/a>
Jennifer Garner, Kerris Dorsey and Ed Oxenbould (Disney)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, this weekend you can find out for yourself why Steve Carrell is chasing a kangaroo and what that has to do with Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day<\/em><\/a>. And it will be a good excuse to go to the theater.<\/p>\n

Sometimes when the term \u201cloosely based\u201d is used to describe a movie, it means that the film follows the plot of the original book only to a point. Here, Alexander<\/em> is extremely loosely based on the book of the same name by Judith Viorst, but in a good way. The 32-page illustrated children\u2019s book has very little dialogue and plot to work with for a full-length movie. \u201cThe idea for the film adaptation was to use the story in the book as the first act of the movie,\u201d says producer Lisa Henson. \u201cThe second two acts of the film had to be a completely original storyline set during a second day that is even worse than Alexander\u2019s first terrible, horrible, very bad day.\u201d The end result is reminiscent to both versions of Disney\u2019s Freaky Friday<\/em>. Here, Alexander doesn\u2019t feel that anyone in his family understands what it is like to have a bad day and can\u2019t relate to him. On the eve of his birthday, he celebrates at midnight with some ice cream and a candle and accidentally makes a wish.\u00a0 What follows is crazy hijinks that one expects from a Disney family comedy, but not exactly in the Disney tradition.<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/a>
Steve Carell and either Zoey or Elise Vargas. (Disney)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Directed by Miguel Arteta, Alexander<\/em> may be the first Disney movie to utter the word \u201cpenis\u201d and to have some literal bathroom humor. In a way, it actually makes this unbelievable tale a little more believable.<\/p>\n

Like a well-made recipe, Alexander<\/em> has the right mix of plot and cast. Over 500 boys tried out for the roll of Alexander Cooper, but it was Ed Oxenbould from Australia who won the role. He\u2019s a character that everyone can relate with. The wonderful Steve Carell, (who could likely end up becoming the next \u201cDisney Dad\u201d) plays Alexander\u2019s stay-at-home-but-not-by-choice pop, Ben. He hasn\u2019t worked in seven months, so he is really looking forward to his big job interview. Kelly Cooper (Jennifer Garner) is the successful business mom working for a children\u2019s’ book publishing company. She feels guilty leaving baby Trevor (played by twins Zoey and Elise Vargas) and going to work. Her boss (Megan Mullally) doesn\u2019t help matters by dangling the carrot of advancement with the distinct possibility of losing more hours away from home. Her big day is centered on a new book release that will be read aloud by actor Dick Van Dyke at a local bookstore. (A fairly tasteless scene that doesn\u2019t honor such a legend).<\/p>\n

\"Jennifer<\/a>
Jennifer Garner and Dick Van Dyke (Disney)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brother Anthony (Dylan Minnette) is looking forward to getting his driver\u2019s license and attending the Junior prom with his uptight girlfriend Celia (Bella Thorne) and sister Emily (Kerris Dorsey) can\u2019t wait for her big break playing Peter Pan in the school play. And yes, things don\u2019t go as planned for them either.<\/p>\n

In Alexander\u2019s family, he is usually the only one who experiences bad days. The rest of them seem to just shrug it off and move on. (Similar to going to church in a bad mood and everyone else appears to be happy.) In this story, they can\u2019t. The movie makes it clear that having bad days is normal and getting upset about it isn\u2019t a sin, but it is how you deal with them that makes the difference. They can choose to blame each other for all the bad things happening or they can work together to just get the day over with and try again tomorrow. It is refreshing to see that all of the story\u2019s craziness is tempered by the message that sticking together as a family is important no matter what.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finally, this weekend you can find out for yourself why Steve Carrell is chasing a kangaroo and what that has to do with Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. And it will be a good excuse to go to the theater. Sometimes when the term \u201cloosely based\u201d is used to describe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":558,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[359,697,273,367,696,694,368,360,364,693,366,105,361,695,362],"class_list":["post-703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies","tag-alexander-and-the-terrible","tag-bella-thorne","tag-comedy","tag-dick-van-dyke","tag-dylan-minnette","tag-ed-oxenbould","tag-family-movie","tag-horrible","tag-jennifer-garner","tag-kerris-dorsey","tag-megan-mullally","tag-movie-review","tag-no-good","tag-steve-carell","tag-very-bad-day"],"yoast_head":"\n'Alexander\u2019s Bad Day' is Good for Everyone Else - Peanuts and Popcorn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2014\/10\/alexanders-bad-day-is-good-for-everyone-else.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Alexander\u2019s Bad Day' is Good for Everyone Else - Peanuts and Popcorn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Finally, this weekend you can find out for yourself why Steve Carrell is chasing a kangaroo and what that has to do with Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. 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