I love seeing positive portrayals of fatherhood in films and on TV, so I was completely thrilled with Steve Carrel’s role as Alexander’s father in the new Disney film, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Alexander, an 11 year old boy, suffers one terrible day after another and he is tired of watching his perfect family enjoy day after perfect day. On his birthday, he wishes for his perfect family to have their own bad day. His wish comes true, resulting in hilarity throughout the rest of the movie.
While the day goes from bad to worse, Carrel’s character continues to look for the silver lining.
Like Alexander’s dad, many dads have found themselves out of work and taking on the role of an at-home dad. Although Alexander’s dad continues to look for a new job, he is completely comfortable in his own skin running things at home. I loved how Carrell played the character with warmth and a bit of goofiness.
And Carrell’s character experienced the same biases that many active dads have experienced – at one point in the movie, a woman at a mommy and me yoga class called him a “fammy” (a derogatory combination of “father” and “mommy”). He handled the name much better than I would have.
Anyway, the movie is really funny and I had a great time watching it with my 8 and 10 year olds. It kind of reminded me of the Wimpy Kid movies/books, but with more of a focus on the whole family. If you like those types of movies, then you’ll enjoy this one.
There are a few sexual innuendos that will go over most kids’ heads. This is one of those movies adults will laugh out loud along with their kids. I think 6 and up would fine for this movie.