Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014)
Directed by Miguel Arteta
Alexander's day begins with gum stuck in his hair, followed by more calamities. Though he finds little sympathy from his family and begins to wonder if bad things only happen to him, his mom, dad, brother, and sister all find themselves living through their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
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What critics say influenced Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
After a rotten day at school, Alexander makes a “Big”/“Home Alone”-like wish that his family members have a bad day, too.
From oversleeping the next morning — a John Hughes ploy right out of the “Home Alone” playbook — the family dashes headlong into a series of mini-disasters from dead car batteries to baby shenanigans and blown career opportunities.
Some are in the style of the E.T.- Drew Barrymore closet confrontation; others are reminiscent of the "Home Alone" Macaulay Culkin scream.
In fact, it’s somewhat refreshing to see a family film that, while containing no shortage of the adolescent, gross-out humor that’s been a staple of kids’ films since “Home Alone,” feels downright small and devoid of the kind of outrageous, big-budget set pieces normally required for a major motion picture these days.
He has an older brother named Anthony ( Dylan Minnette ) and an older sister named Emily ( Kerris Dorsey , so sweet as Brad Pitt's daughter in " Moneyball "), as well as a new baby sibling.
Dylan Minnette (2013's " Prisoners ") and Kerris Dorsey (2011's " Moneyball ") amicably round out the Cooper clan as older brother and sister Anthony and Emily, both of them finding perspective in the things they have spent the day worrying about.
Dorsey, who played Brad Pitt’s daughter in Moneyball, steals her scenes as a driven thespian willing to do anything to make sure the show must go on.
As her tight-shipped boss Nina, Megan Mullally (2013's " The Kings of Summer ") is so high-strung and funny it is a shame she only has a few minutes of screen time in the first half before disappearing entirely.