Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
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.
A straightforward adaptation of the beloved children's book that expands the single-day premise into a full family ensemble comedy. The plot is thin and episodic by design, stringing together mishaps without much narrative depth. Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner bring warmth and commit to the physical comedy, elevating the material above its formulaic structure. Visually it's a generic, bright family comedy with no distinctive cinematographic choices. The concept of extending bad luck to the whole family is a reasonable expansion but not particularly inventive, and the film follows a predictable redemptive arc. The ending wraps things up in a feel-good, expected fashion that suits its audience but offers no surprises.