It's taken quite a while for a film adaptation of the beloved children's book to appear, perhaps because its title is rather cumbersome: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. But there the full title is on posters (with commas) and across the screen (without them), although it could be argued that the story hasn't been adapted with quite as much reverence.

The cast of ‘Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’
‘Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’ is based on the book from 1972

Originally published in 1972, the award-winning book by Judith Viorst won a shelf-load of awards. The film adaptation, by first-time screenwriter Ron Lieber, flips the story around: now it's not Alexander who's having such an awful day: he has wished his bad luck on everyone around him instead.

More: Read the review for 'Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day'

Admittedly, this gives the cast a lot more to do, including parents Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner, siblings Dylan Minnette and Kerris Dorsey and girlfriends Bella Thorne and Sidney Fullmer. And things are further livened up by the inclusion of comedy veterans like Megan Mullally, Jennifer Coolidge, Donald Glover and even Dick Van Dyke in silly side roles.

Watch the trailer for ‘Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’, here:


For such a goofy movie, critics have been relatively kind (it has a 59% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes), and its bestseller roots make it a want-to-see movie for 93% of moviegoers, hinting that it'll be a big hit at the box office this weekend both in America and Britain.