One mark of an entertaining movie is what scenes, lines of dialogue or laughs, tears and thoughts stay with you after you depart the theater.

After I saw "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," I was still chuckling to myself."Alexander," based on the children's book by Judith Viorst, is in the genre of family dilemma comedies. This is somewhat of a lost art in contemporary Hollywood studio film-making since many comedies are animation features or teen and college-age R-rated raunch."Alexander" is refreshing in that it's a family comedy that you can take the family to.The film has the zany exuberance of contemporary classics of the genre, harking back to 1980s comedies, including "Mr. Mom" (Michael Keaton, 1983), "National Lampoon's Vacation" (Chevy Chase, 1983) and "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" (Rick Moranis, 1989).In "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," Alexander (Ed Oxenbould) is about to celebrate his 12th birthday. However, a competing birthday party by a popular boy at middle school may scuttle Alexander's big day. Even the girl he has a crush on, Becky (Sidney Fullmer), may not attend.That's not all.Alexander's mother, Kelly Cooper (Jennifer Garner), is facing a big presentation at the book publishing firm where she works and an author's reading (by Dick Van Dyke, looking great as himself) at a Los Angeles are a book store.Alexander's father, Ben Cooper (Steve Carell), who is actually a rocket scientist and has been laid off for seven months, has an important job interview at a video game company.Alexander's older brother, Anthony (Dylan Minnette), is about to take his driver's license test and attend the high school junior prom with his girlfriend, Celia (Bella Thorne), said to be the prettiest girl in school.Alexander's older sister, Emily (Kerris Dorsey), has the lead role in the middle school's production of the play, "Peter Pan."As if that's not enough to ruin Alexander's big day, he just dropped the butterfly binky of his younger brother, Baby Trevor (Elise Vargas, Zooey Vargas), into the sink's trash disposal where it was ground up.The "Very Bad Day" is in the context of the "relentless optimism" of Alexander's dad, whose maxim is: "Steer your ship with positivity."Director Miguel Arteta ("Cedar Rapids," 2011; "The Good Girl," 2002), works from a screenplay and screen story by Rob Lieber, in his feature film screenplay debut, that frames the story in flashback. You see the results of the day, and then begin the day with the Cooper family to see Murphy's Law unfold, often in rapid-fire succession. The mishaps build to an incredible peak. So do the laughs.Carell is great as the hapless dad with the ever-optimistic outlook. His often annoying gravelly whine is perfect for the part.Garner proves adept at physical comedy, all the while never breaking her "mom's smile."Oxenbould, who is Australian, is terrific in the title role. He has a lisp that is endearing and a seriously sincere countenance like a young Wallace Shawn.Minnette and Dorsey as Alexander's siblings, and even the Vargas babies, are terrific."Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" provides family-bonding philosophy amongst the laughs. It's a comedy with a good heart."Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," MPAA Rated PG (Parental Guidance Suggested. Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children.) for rude humor including some reckless behavior and language; Genre: Comedy, Family; Run time: 1 hr., 21 min.; Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.Credit Readers Anonymous: The "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" closing credits include the song, "Best Worst Day Ever," written and sung by Kerris and Justine Dorsey.Box Office, Oct. 17: Brad Pitt and his World War II U.S. soldiers took over No. 1, with $23.5 million, making gone the two-week No. 1 run of "Gone Girl," No. 2, with $17.8 million, $107 million, three weeks, and keeping the animated feature, "The Book Of Life" opening at No. 3, with $17 million;4. "Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," $12 million, $36.8 million, two weeks; 5. "The Best Of Me," $10.2 million, opening; 6. "Dracula Untold," $9.8 million, $40.7 million, two weeks; 7. "The Judge," $7.9 million, $26.8 million, two weeks; 8. "Annabelle," $7.9 million, $74.1 million, three weeks; 9. "The Equalizer," $5.4 million, $89.1 million, four weeks; 10. "The Maze Runner," $4.5 million, $90.8 million, five weeksUnreel, Oct. 22:"Ouija," PG-13: A group of friends got their hands on the board. Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Daren Kagasoff and Bianca A. Santos star in the horror film."John Wick," R: Keanu Reeves stars as an ex-hit man who comes out of retirement to revenge gangsters who ripped him off. Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen and Willem Dafoe co-star in the action-thriller."White Bird In A Blizzard," R: Shailene Wodley stars as a teen girl whose mother disappears. Eva Green, Christopher Meloni and Angela Bassett co-star in the thriller."Laggies," R: Keira Knightley stars in the comedy about a boyfriend who disappears after proposing marriage. Chloe Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell and Mark Webber co-star.Read Paul Willistein's movie reviews at the Lehigh Valley Press web site, thelehighvalley-press.com; the Times-News web site, tnonline.com; and hear them on "Lehigh Valley Art Salon," 6 - 6:30 p.m. Mondays, WDIY 88.1 FM, and wdiy.org, where they're archived. Email Paul Willistein:

pwillistein@tnonline.com. You can follow Paul Willistein on Twitter and friend Paul Willistein on Facebook.Two Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes