Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I was unaware this film existed and when we started watching it was surprised to see actual Hollywood talent in it, as I assumed this was something much lower in budget. As other reviewers comment it does derive comedic value from some risqué themes, but does so in a suitable way and one you can build important conversations on easily. The only three problems for us were the endorsement of women as objects in the “app photo editing” scene (brief, implied more than shown); the joke for the adults about Australian cowboys (it’s an odd choice but they remain clothed and it should fly right over the kids heads); and the big one: the comedic abuse of over the counter medicine. It has real consequences and..well..it was funny. My kids - like a lot of kids - have lost family members to the opioid crisis. While I think it’s very weird someone approved this for a family movie it created a good platform for us to talk about the issues which, to me, is important to start young and do often. Honestly the only real problematic issue we actually had was the bar it sets on what a birthday party could look like and can they have a crocodile at their next birthday. Characters do make choices that would be dangerous if imitated - so if your kids like to copy (mine don’t) you might want to look elsewhere. With the backbone of some really wholesome messages, as long as you can stand your kids hearing the word “penis” you’ll have a good time.

I thought this was a really fun movie! I watch with a five and six year-old and they really enjoyed it. The scenes complained about in other reviews went right over their heads. They understood the main lessons of importance of family and making the best out of even the worst situations.