Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip is a cute Disney movie about a family on vacation. Young Alexander (Thom Nemer) is convinced that his constant bad luck is because of a family curse.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip is silly and preposterous, but fun. It has a message for kids about whether you look for the bad in life or the good in life, you find what you’re looking for.
Mom (Eva Longoria) is a travel writer. Dad (Jesse Garcia) is a failed Mexican food chef because he won’t cook food in the traditional way. Big sister (Paulina Chávez) is obsessed with getting a prom date. Two grandparents are also around. Gil (Cheech Marin) is the mom’s parent. Lidia (Rose Portillo) is the dad’s parent.
Mom has a travel writing job that means she can take the family on a road trip to Mexico. Her magazine will pay for it.
When nervous and over-anxious Alexander goes to the attic to bring down the luggage he finds an old monkey god statuette. When he shows it to his grandfather, he learns it carries a curse. It was given to an ancestor over 100 years ago by three witches in Soladad, Mexico. The ancestor was supposed to give it back but never did.
Alexander wants to return it while they are in Mexico. No matter how many times the adults in the family try to throw away the monkey god, it comes back.
The family heads out in a million dollar super deluxe travel bus. Michelle Beteau does a funny cameo explaining the bus to them. But she leaves out a few details and they promptly wreck it. Probably the curse.

They rent a much smaller camper and drive it into a river. Probably the curse.
The kind folks who rescue them from the river give them an ice cream truck to drive because they promise to deliver it back in Albuquerque when they get home. Yeah, the curse gets that one, too.
When they finally get to Soladad and find out the truth about their cursed monkey god, Alexander is unburdened from his constant fears and anxieties about life and decides to find the happy things in life to celebrate. Message delivered.
Most of the members of this Hispanic family don’t speak very good Spanish, but the movie does have a bit of Spanish. It’s subtitled, so younger children may need a little help with that. Many of the jokes are corny and a few are aimed at adults – like the references to hot Cheetos and Desperate Housewives. Mainly the movie is a warm and funny family story with a young boy as the main character.
This cheerful movie can be seen on Disney+.
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