Alexander and the Very, Very, Very, Very Long Title is based on a 32 page picture book by Judith Viorst about a young boy who feels trampled by the world and feels that his personal misfortunes are neither recognised nor understood by his family. In a moment of sly retribution, he wishes the worst possible day on his parents and siblings in a desperate attempt to have them understand his plight.
I’ve not read the book (other than a few sample pages courtesy of Amazon.com) but I imagine, as was the case with Where the Wild Things Are, that the book is a much more economic and elegant tale than the resulting feature film. The film appears to be riding the coat tails of the recent Diary of a Wimpy Kid films (which do a very good job of translating its literary source to the silver screen) but where the Wimpy Kid films riff neatly on the familiar misfortunes and fears of our youth, the hijinks presented in the Alexander film are so outlandish as to be highly unlikely.
These tremendously contrived events no doubt sat fine within the confines of a picture book but in the context of a hammy live action feature film they feel phony and forced. As a result, much of the proceedings are excruciating to watch as one unbelievable misfortune is piled upon the next.
Naturally, the film redeems itself with its central theme that as long as you have your family, things can’t be too bad, but there’s no escaping the feeling throughout the movie that Diary of a Wimpy Kid is so much better than this.
Stuart Jamieson
www.disney.com.au
