Adaptation
Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day
'Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day' Blu-ray Review
April 16, 2015Ben MK
Best worst day ever...
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Feature Rating: Based on the classic children's book by Judith Viorst, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day tells the story of Alexander (newcomer Ed Oxenbould), an ordinary kid with extraordinarily bad luck. His birthday party happens to fall on the same day as the birthday party for the most popular kid in school; his geography teacher won't let him do his class assignment on his favorite country, Australia; he accidentally sets ablaze the lab book belonging to the girl he has a crush on; the list goes on and on. What makes it worse is that everyone else in his family — optimistic dad, Ben (Steve Carell), ever-smiling mom, Kelly (Jennifer Garner), wannabe-actress sister, Emily (Kerris Dorsey), charming older brother, Anthony (Dylan Minnette), and even baby brother Trevor (Elise and Zoey Vargas) — seems to have the exact opposite kind of luck. That is, until one minute past midnight on Alexander's twelfth birthday, when circumstances collide — in a Freaky Friday sort of way — to change all of that. After lamenting that his family ought to know what it's like to have a bad day too, Alexander awakens the very next day to find that his birthday wish has become a reality. Alarm clocks fail to go off in time; recently layed-off Ben is forced to take baby Trevor along to a job interview, with disastrous results; Kelly struggles to deal with a majorly embarrassing work emergency at her book-publishing job; Emily comes down with a cold the day of her school play; and Anthony is stricken with the hugest zit just before his prom. And that's just the beginning. Will Alexander and his family survive this mother of all bad days? And can they all learn a little something from the experience? Of course they can. After all, this is a Disney movie. Yes, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day does unfold rather predictably, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable to watch, thanks to Miguel Arteta's solid direction and a series of funny and earnest performances from the cast, in particular Oxenbould, Carell and Garner. The screenplay by Rob Lieber is also noteworthy, as it expands considerably on Viorst's original 1972 story, shifting the focus for much of the movie to Alexander's family, expanding their roles and adding more depth to their characters while keeping the moral of the story — that everyone has bad days — intact.  Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day's Blu-ray presentation is definitely not terrible, horrible or bad. In fact, it's very, very good in every respect. The hi-def image is sharp, maintaining an impressive level of clarity throughout; colors are quite well-saturated, which bodes well because the overall picture is quite colorful; black levels and contrast are also excellent; and there are no glaring image defects to be found. Audio-wise, the movie is equipped with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. And even though the film is rather light on action, all the elements of its soundstage — from the dialogue to its upbeat, Australian-tinged score — are nonetheless rendered with crystal clarity.  Disney's one-disc Blu-ray release includes an iTunes digital copy of the film, plus the following bonus features:
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