Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014)

There are problems inherent in making a movie out of what is really a very short story written for small children.  I think that Disney got a little cocky after the success of Where the Wild Things Are, which made a surprisingly good full length movie.  This is not the case with this movie, although it may hold great appeal for the tween crowd.

Alexander Cooper is an almost 12 year old boy who has a deep and intimate knowledge of bad days.  He has them with some regularity and he is sick and tired of the rest of his family being Pollyanna about everything.  Even his unemployed father has an irrepressibly sunny attitude about life.  When Alexander tries to explain why it is just not that way for him, his father tells him not to worry because everything will turn out okay.  So on the eve of his 12th birthday he wishes them all a very bad no good day, and lo and behold that is what happens.  Alexander is surprised to find that he is even more upset to think that the terrible things that are happening to his family are because he wished it.