GROUCHY GROWN UP REVIEW OF ALEXANDER AND... THE VERY BAD DAY

year: 2014 rating: **

It couldn’t have happened quickly enough that ALEXANDER traded off his TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY in the magical fashion of FREAKY FRIDAY and LIAR LIAR, by wishing his family would have an equally awful 24 hours.

The film’s mopey namesake, played by Ed Oxenbould, isn’t a terrible child actor, but his bumbling reactions to numerous misfortunes aren't very funny, or entertaining.

So it's a blessing that performers like Steve Carell as dad, Jennifer Garner as mom, and his older brother and sister are left to weather a series of catastrophes, ranging from a zit, the common cold, a job interview and a book signing gone bad with Disney icon Dick Van Dyke.

Herein Alexander takes a backseat like he's watching someone else play a video game. And while there are brief moments of Disney frolic, the movie is awkward and badly timed, wasting even Steve Carell’s scene-stealing potential.