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| The before and after poster. This is a damn easy-to-read film, ain't it?
Origin: USA
Language: English
Director: Miguel Arteta
Producers: Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Lisa Henson
Writer: Rob Lieber
Casts: Ed Oxenbould, Steve Carrell, Jennifer Garner, Kerris Dorsey, Dylan Minnette
Genre: Comedy
Release: October 10, 2014 (US), December 4, 2014 (MY)
Studios: Walt Disney Pictures, 21 Laps Entertainment, The Jim Henson Company
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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Ah, hello there fellow readers. My ol' routine is back! Only because I feel like doing it. And I got excited because of a few things about this film; not really because of Steve Carrell and especially not Jennifer Garner; kind of because light, simple films like this are hard to come by these days (I mean, simple and light in terms of its immediate resonance with real life situations); TOTALLY because of its teaser poster and the 'after' poster pictured above; and MOSTLY because of that wordy title (reminds me of the good old days of Fall Out Boy's wordy song titles; a mouthful to say, but catchy nonetheless, and most of the time doesn't even say much about its content).
Now. Let the review commence!
Basically, the film tells us about the miserable life of the titular character Alexander (Oxenbould) of the Cooper family, an average 11-turning-12 American kid. In contrast, the other members of his family seems to have it easy with theirs. Until one day, having to feel tired that no one understand his miseries, he wished on his birthday that his family would suffer his daily demises for just one day... and it comes true. So, most of the film basically showcases how the Coopers cope with... the titular, mouthful to say situation depicted in the film's title... terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day which turned out to be the exact opposite at the end of it.
First things first; the title. I think it's an over-exaggeration; catchy, but didn't really say much about the film itself. I have never read the film's source material, so let's not go there. The filmmakers could have gone overboard with the film's humour because of the title. But because it was slapped with Disney name on it, which is known by many to be that 'family' brand, they had to put most of the humour on the safe side. While the film does suggestively go to that risky comedic territory like vulgarity and sexuality (like for example, SPOILER ALERT, the word 'penis' being uttered several times by Garner, which I think is a first in a DISNEY-branded film... or I could be wrong), they didn't explore it too much. And they could've just put the second half of the film's title to an even greater heights on Alexander's family members instead of the level shown in the film. Okay, destruction and gross out moments are definitely present in the film, but not to the point of the day being entirely 'terrible, horrible, no good, and very bad,' as the title suggests. Heh. Broader audience, broader bank, eh? Not to say that the safe humour are not funny though, it's just that I wished that they could go all out with it. But what else can I expect? It sets out to be a family comedy film, so what I see is what I get, and it definitely delivers on that end. Heck, I shouldn't even be bothered to write what I feel up here! It was meant for escapism after all the dark events most of us have been experiencing through out the year!
All in all, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is just an average comedy film, but gives out a handful of chuckles nonetheless. Nothing too special have happened in this film due to its decision to be in that safe family humour territory which in turn making most of the comedy predictable, but definitely a decent treat for the whole family, and for any individual who keeps on experiencing terrible days in their lives.
First things first; the title. I think it's an over-exaggeration; catchy, but didn't really say much about the film itself. I have never read the film's source material, so let's not go there. The filmmakers could have gone overboard with the film's humour because of the title. But because it was slapped with Disney name on it, which is known by many to be that 'family' brand, they had to put most of the humour on the safe side. While the film does suggestively go to that risky comedic territory like vulgarity and sexuality (like for example, SPOILER ALERT, the word 'penis' being uttered several times by Garner, which I think is a first in a DISNEY-branded film... or I could be wrong), they didn't explore it too much. And they could've just put the second half of the film's title to an even greater heights on Alexander's family members instead of the level shown in the film. Okay, destruction and gross out moments are definitely present in the film, but not to the point of the day being entirely 'terrible, horrible, no good, and very bad,' as the title suggests. Heh. Broader audience, broader bank, eh? Not to say that the safe humour are not funny though, it's just that I wished that they could go all out with it. But what else can I expect? It sets out to be a family comedy film, so what I see is what I get, and it definitely delivers on that end. Heck, I shouldn't even be bothered to write what I feel up here! It was meant for escapism after all the dark events most of us have been experiencing through out the year!
All in all, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is just an average comedy film, but gives out a handful of chuckles nonetheless. Nothing too special have happened in this film due to its decision to be in that safe family humour territory which in turn making most of the comedy predictable, but definitely a decent treat for the whole family, and for any individual who keeps on experiencing terrible days in their lives.
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