Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a 2014 American comedy film directed by Miguel Arteta from a screenplay written by Rob Lieber. The film stars Steve Carell, Ed Oxenbould and Jennifer Garner, and is loosely based on Judith Viorst’s 1972 children's book of the same name. Co-produced by Shawn Levy and Lisa Henson for Walt Disney Pictures through their respective production companies, 21 Laps Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company, the film was released in North America on October 10, 2014. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a success at the box office, grossing $100.6 million worldwide against a $28 million budget. It is one of the only films produced by The Jim Henson Company to not feature any puppets.
Plot
Living in suburban Los Angeles, Alexander Cooper often feels left out by his family: baby brother Trevor; elder siblings Anthony and Emily; and their parents, Kelly and Ben.
Anthony is trying to pass his driving test so he can drive his demanding and sharp-tongued girlfriend, Celia Rodriguez, to the junior prom; Emily is rehearsing for the title role in her Peter Pan school play; Kelly works for a publication company on a new children's book which will get her promoted to vice-president of said company; Ben, who has been unemployed for seven months, has landed an interview for a job as a video game designer.
That morning, Alexander experiences a series of mishaps at school: accidentally setting fire to his crush Becky Gibson's notebook; his classmate Elliot sends a humiliating photoshopped image of him to the whole school; and he finds out that his friends – including Becky, and even his best friend Paul – will all be attending Philip Parker's 12th birthday party, instead of Alexander's the next day, due to Philip's expensive party entertainment and popularity. When he tries to tell his family about his bad day however, nobody is very sympathetic due to being focused on the good things happening to them. That night, Alexander puts a candle on a homemade birthday sundae, wishing that everyone in his family could relate to what he is going through.
The next morning, Alexander wakes up to find the rest of his family in chaotic disarray: his parents have overslept; Emily has a cold from rehearsing in the car; Celia has broken up with Anthony, due to her overhearing and misinterpreting a conversation between him and Alexander the night before. Anthony also wakes up to find a giant zit on his forehead. Kelly's car is dead, due to Emily having left the light on the previous night, draining the battery. Ben has to take Trevor with him to the interview, after dropping Kelly off at work. At school, Alexander learns that Philip's birthday party has been canceled because Philip has come down with chickenpox; Becky and Paul, along with all the other kids who had originally planned to attend Philip's party, will attend Alexander's instead.
Delighted, Alexander tells his father about Philip and that Elliot had gotten busted for texting the school the photos of Alexander. He then excitedly asks his father Ben to plan a party for him. Meanwhile, Kelly is informed of an embarrassing typo in the book they are publicizing ("dump" instead of "jump"); she attempts to prevent Dick Van Dyke from reading it at a public event they have scheduled. Ben takes Trevor along to his interview; his prospective boss, Greg, seems impressed by Ben's credentials. However, they decide to hold another meeting, after Trevor ingests a non-toxic highlighter. Back at school, Anthony reconciles with Celia. He jumps up in excitement, but accidentally hits a banner which is attached to two trophy cases, causing them to come crashing down, leading to him being sent to the principal's office and getting suspended.
Kelly arrives at Dick Van Dyke's reading too late to warn him about the book's typo. He then reads the inappropriate material, humiliating himself, shocking the audience, and almost getting Kelly arrested. Meanwhile, Ben purchases cough syrup for Emily en route to the DMV; there, Anthony's driving examiner, Ms. Suggs, cruelly tricks him into taking his eyes off the road by using sarcasm to persuade him to answer his cell phone. This causes Anthony to destroy several parking meters, damage the family minivan; he consequently fails his driving test. As the entire family bemoans their collective misfortunes, Alexander cuts in and admits his birthday wish to them. He apologizes for making everyone suffer the day they've had. Ben disagrees since the day is not ruined, because it isn't over yet. Right then and there, the whole family resolves to stay as positive as they can.