Alonso Duralde of "The Wrap" gave the film a negative review, saying "These characters should have to suffer twice as many embarrassments if they want to earn all those adjectives in the title." Sherilyn Connelly of "The Village Voice" gave the film a negative review, saying "Everything that can go wrong does, and while it has its moments, Miguel Arteta's comedy relies too much on gender-shaming and emasculation jokes." Kyle Smith of the "New York Post" gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying "Can a series of irritating events make a movie? Yes, but an irritating one: "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"." John Hartl of "The Seattle Times" gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "The movie is so over-the-top that it makes little narrative sense, but it's often successful in its naked pursuit of belly laughs." Katie Rife of "The A.V. Club" gave the film a B, saying "Alexander is a watchable, affable, pretty good, well-done kids' movie buoyed by a humorous script and talented cast." Bill Goodykoontz of "The Arizona Republic" gave the film three out of five stars, saying "It turns out the film is not terrible or horrible or very bad. No good? Not that, either." Claudia Puig of "USA Today" gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "It may have the year's longest title, but Alexander's movie is not terrible, horrible, or even half bad. In fact, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" is a pleasant, entertaining way to spend just under 90 minutes, particularly if accompanied by children." Sandie Angulo Chen of "The Washington Post" gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Even the bathroom humor is forgivable when the end result is a crowd-pleasing comedy and a surprisingly entertaining treat for the whole family." Rafer Guzman of "Newsday" gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying ""Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day", a Disney film, stretches the book thinner than pizza dough and feels about as nutritious. Still, its intentions are good and so is its cast, particularly Ed Oxenbould, a bright-eyed, expressive 13-year-old making his screen debut as Alexander Cooper."