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

For F*** Magazine

ALEXANDER AND THE HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY

Director : Miguel Arteta

Cast : Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Dylan Minnette, Ed Oxenbould, Kerris Dorsey, Megan Mullally, Jennifer Coolidge, Bella Thorne

Genre : Family/Comedy

Run Time : 81 mins

Opens : 4 December 2014

Rating : PG

Daniel Powter sang about a “Bad Day” in 2005 and in this Disney comedy, we meet someone who’s had his share of bad days, 11-year-old Alexander Cooper (Oxenbould). It’s the day before his 12^th birthday and Alexander’s crushed that all his friends will be attending another schoolmate’s party instead. None of his family members will give him the time of day because they’re too caught up celebrating all the things that are going right for them. A dejected Alexander fixes himself a makeshift birthday sundae, wishing that the rest of his family will experience a downer day of their own. The next day, Alexander’s wish comes true: his dad Ben’s (Carell) job interview takes a less-than-successful turn, the children’s book his mum Kelly (Garner) is publishing emerges with an unfortunate typo, his sister Emily (Dorsey) might have to sit out the production of Peter Pan in which she’s starring due to the flu his older brother Anthony (Minnette) has a disastrous driving test and a falling out with his girlfriend Celia (Thorne) and his baby brother Trevor (Elise/Zoey Vargas) ingests a permanent marker. Alexander realises what his wish has wrought and the family band together to make it through the day together.

            This writer is grateful that Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day has as long a title as it does because it will help with his word quota. The film is based on the 1972 children’s book by Judith Viorst, which was earlier adapted into an animated musical special. Being a 32-page children’s book, the film calls for adaptation expansion. So, while the book focused on Alexander’s own bad day, the bulk of the film centres on the bad day Alexander wishes upon the rest of his family. It’s basically Hijinks Ensues: The Movie, with Murphy’s Law in full effect. There’s a degree of schadenfreude to be had in seeing myriad family-friendly calamities befall the Cooper clan. This is best-described as a sitcom episode with a larger budget. It’s really, really silly but you knew that going into it already. Between the least successful stage production of Peter Pan since the one in 21 Jump Street, Steve Carell pursuing a runaway kangaroo through the neighbourhood and strippers showing up for a kids’ birthday party, the comedy set-pieces are lively but stop short of being satisfyingly elaborate.

            Parents make many sacrifices for their children and sitting through cringe-worthy family movies is one of them. Thankfully, Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day isn’t as torturous for the older members of the audience as it could’ve been and it helps that it clocks in at a breezy 81 minutes. Steve Carell’s presence elevates the pratfall-heavy flick – no matter what he’s in, he never looks like he’s phoning it in or that the material is beneath him and he’s been subjected to far more embarrassment in earlier films like Evan Almighty. He’s game for anything director Miguel Arteta throws at him, including being lit on fire at a Benihana-style teppanyaki restaurant. Jennifer Garner’s good in this one too, making for a believable pillar of sanity for the family. The attitudes that both Ben and Kelly Cooper carry are actually quite uplifting and it does bring a smile to one’s face to see this couple try their darndest to remain positive as everything unravels around them in comedic fashion.

            The child actors in the film are competent if not particularly remarkable. Ed Oxenbould has just enough of that “loveable moppet” quality about him without looking like he was assembled in a Disney child star factory. It’s also pretty funny that Alexander is fascinated by all things Australian, and Oxenbould is an Aussie himself. Kerris Dorsey is appealingly loopy as she attempts to play Peter Pan while high on cough syrup. Dylan Minnette is a little stiff as the older brother eager to impress his date and Bella Thorne does bring just enough “mean girl”-ness to bear. Dick van Dyke is a bit of an odd cameo choice – we suppose there’s the Disney connection. Genre fans will also get a kick out of seeing Burn Gorman from Pacific Rim, Torchwood and Game of Thrones show up as the drama teacher.

            Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day has its share of bodily function jokes and other juvenile gags but it’s able to escape that feeling that it should be consigned to the Disney Channel thanks to the two A-list stars playing the parents. The production values are also decent, barring an iffy CGI kangaroo. If you’re at the Cineplex and have got little ‘uns in tow, you could do worse than this bad day.

Summary: It’s a really silly, fluffy family flick, but the gags fly thick and fast, Steve Carell throws himself into the nonsense and it’s all over fairly quickly.

RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong 

Dolphin Tale 2

For F*** Magazine

DOLPHIN TALE 2

Director : Charles Martin Smith

Cast : Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Kris Kristofferson, Morgan Freeman

Genre: Family/Comedy/Drama

Opens : 2 October 2014

Rating : PG 

Run time: 107 mins

The true story of Winter, the rescued dolphin with the prosthetic tail, was dramatized in 2011’s Dolphin Tale, this sequel following up on Winter and some of her new companions at Florida’s Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Dr. Clay Haskett (Connick Jr.), his daughter Hazel (Zuehlsdorff) and teams of volunteers cope with the crowds of visitors who flock to the aquarium to see the now-famous Winter. Sawyer (Gamble), with whom Winter shares the closest bond, notices that Winter has become erratic and aggressive. Panama, the dolphin who lives alongside Winter, dies of old age. U.S. Department of Agriculture regulation states that a dolphin in captivity must be accompanied by another of the same sex and cannot live in isolation. The companionship of rescued dolphins Mandy and Hope might be just what Winter needs. While Dr. Cameron McCarthy (Freeman) works on a new prosthetic tail for Winter, Sawyer and his mother Lorraine (Judd) must decide if he will accept a prestigious scholarship, which means spending three whole months away from Winter.

            A good live-action family film seems to be an increasingly rarer beast at movie theatres these days. It’s difficult to strike a balance in order to create a film that appeals to kids but also won’t elicit protests from adults. 2011’s Dolphin Tale was mostly successful in this endeavour, an involving “a Boy and his X” tale that wasn’t overly schmaltzy. It doesn’t seem like the natural candidate for a sequel, but it turns out that Winter’s story didn’t end there. Thankfully, all the principal cast members and director Charles Martin Smith have returned, ensuring that Dolphin Tale 2 shares many of the attributes that made the first film palatable. Of course, it’s important to bear in mind that just as it was for the first go-round, the human characters share few similarities with their real-life counterparts and “Sawyer Nelson” was created from whole cloth for the purpose of a “Boy and his X” narrative.

            This isn’t one of those children’s movies where everyone gets along and everything is hunky-dory. There is a good deal of drama and conflict in the plot, partially owing to the main kid characters coming into adolescence. Hazel is at loggerheads with her dad and Sawyer is conflicted as to whether or not he should take an extended period of time away from Winter to go on a university research trip. Dr. Haskett has to fend off the threat of Winter being taken away from Clearwater Marine Aquarium by the USDA and has to explain to the board of directors why Winter can’t make public appearances. While it’s good that character development is made central to the story and that the film doesn’t resort to a cartoony villain, the film is undeniably at its best when we spend time with the dolphins and not with the human characters alone. At times, it can feel like Winter, Mandy and Hope are not receiving sufficient screen time even when the focus is always ostensibly on the dolphins.

            The returning cast helps maintain a sense of continuity and allow viewers to get back into Winter’s story with ease. “You kids take us by surprise, you grow up so stinking fast!” Judd’s character says at one point. She’s right – both Nathan Gamble and Cozi Zuehlsdorff have grown into fine young adults, capably handling the dramatic moments and the interaction with the animals just as they did as younger children. There must’ve been the temptation to shoehorn some kind of romance in but thankfully, Smith resists doing so. Both Kris Kristofferson and Morgan Freeman’s roles are smaller than in the last film, but their kind, authoritative presence is still welcome. “Soul Surfer” and shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton cameos as herself. Winter and Hope the dolphins, who play themselves, deserve credit as well.

The KNB Effects Group, headed by Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero, returns to furnish the animatronic animal effects and the results are largely seamless. That’s right, the guys responsible for the dolphin, pelican and turtle puppets in these two movies also help create the zombies for The Walking Dead. The underwater photography is also as beautiful as in the first one. In spite of some stilted dialogue and overly-engineered plot mechanics, Dolphin Tale 2 emerges as an above-average piece of family entertainment and to its credit, does not feel like a cash-grab sequel, as it well could have. Older audience members might roll their eyes at the continuing antics of Rufus the Pelican, but the goings-on at Clearwater Marine Aquarium are depicted in a fairly engaging manner.

Summary: Just like its predecessor, Dolphin Tale 2 is a decent family film with an educational quotient but just as the Clearwater Marine Aquarium has expanded and gotten busier, this film loses some of the intimacy and warmth of the first.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong

Rio

RIO

2011

Starring the voices of: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro

Directed by: Carlos Saldanha

            Blu (Eisenberg) is a Spix’s macaw, captured as a baby by illegal animal smugglers and shipped to the States – but he’s lucky enough to have been delivered to Minnesota and comes into the care of Linda (Leslie Mann), a kind, intelligent and beautiful bookstore-owner. He’s the last male of his kind. Independent, free-spirited and sultry Jewel (Hathaway) is also a Spix’s macaw. She is the last female of her kind.

Ornithology professor Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) comes to Linda, requesting that she bring Blu to Rio de Janeiro to meet Jewel. They have to get to know each other, as Blu’s city-pet ways annoy Jewel even as she warms to him. However, the real threat is the vicious smugglers on both their feathered tails.                               

A remarkable piece of storytelling and a success on every level from the animation to the humour, the music to the madcap action sequences, Rio is a very polished film. The story flies straight on, never losing its aim, right to an edge-of-your seat sequence onboard the smugglers’ plane, right out of the best action thrillers. It opens with a sequence straight out of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”: birds singing and dancing happily – cut immediately short by them being brutally trapped and ruthlessly spirited away.

This opening scene establishes the tone effectively: colourful cartoony spectacle leavened with a sensitively well-told (and surprisingly un-preachy) conservation message. The script is sharp, almost every line side-splittingly hilarious. The film looks utterly gorgeous, native Brazillian director Saldanha offering not only gorgeous vistas of the Carnivale and the majestic Christo Redentor statue, but also an unflinchingly gritty look at the favela slums and the dirty world of underground wildlife trading.

The voice cast is uniformly superb. Jesse Eisenberg is the standout in addition to being the lead. The Academy-Award nominee plays a nerd, just as he did in The Social Network. However, unlike his character Mark in that film, Blue is a nice, “adorkable” one – bookish, socially awkward, but very sweet, his initial lucklessness with the girl reminding this reviewer of himself. Hathaway provides a wonderful foil for him, feisty and sultry, but also sensitive and kind when required – and, she showcases her golden pipes in several musical numbers.

The main human characters of Linda and Tulio are also a joy to watch, the both of them also sharing a romance that progresses as sweetly and realistically as that of the two birds. Every other character in the film serves a purpose too. Usually, ensemble-cast animated films are a big waste of voice talent, but here none of the characters are superfluous, from the villainous sulphur-crested cockatoo Nigel (Jemaine Clement channelling Tim Curry at his deliciously evil best), to Rafael (George Lopez), a gregarious, family-man Toucan who is always on hand to offer the hapless Blu some much-needed love advice. Also listen out for Tracy Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Will.i.am., Jake T. Austin and others.

A wholly stunning experience not to be missed, Rio is packed with astonishing visuals, a good well-told story, comedy, romance and poignancy. This is something you wish every animated film was, and you could be well forgiven for mistaking this for a Pixar film. Yep, it’s that good.

SUMMARY: Ratatouille meets The Little Mermaid and Princess and the Frog with some Beauty and the Beast and Up thrown in, and deserving of the mean score of all those films.

RATING: 4/5 STARS           

Jedd Jong