''Alice Upside Down'' is a 2007

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film, based on the ''Alice'' series written by

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (born January 4, 1933) is an American writer best known for children's and young adult fiction. Naylor is best known for her children's-novel quartet '' Shiloh'' (a 1992 Newbery Medal winner) and for her "Alice" book ser ...

. The film was shot at

Bishop DuBourg High School Bishop DuBourg High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in St. Louis, Missouri. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis. Notable alumni * Norbert Leo Butz (1985), Tony Award winning American stage, musical th ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. Screened in limited cinema in 2007, it was released wide straight-to-DVD on July 29, 2008. In North America, it aired on

Starz Kids & Family Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, its ...

, but in the early years, it was

on demand On-demand or on demand may refer to: Manufacturing * Build-on-demand * Just-in-time manufacturing, a methodology for production * Print on demand, printing technology and business process in which new copies of a document are not printed until ...

. The film centers on Alice, an 11-year-old girl starting the sixth grade at a new school. It starred

Alyson Stoner Alyson Rae Stoner (born August 11, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and dancer. Their film roles include ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' (2003), '' Cheaper by the Dozen 2'' (2005), and the ''Step Up'' franchise (2006–2014). Their television role ...

Lucas Grabeel Lucas Stephen Grabeel ( ; born November 23, 1984) is an American actor, musician, producer, comedian, and television writer. He is best known for his role as Ryan Evans in the ''High School Musical'' film series (2006–2011). His other film ap ...

Bridgit Mendler Bridgit Claire Mendler (born December 18, 1992) is an American entrepreneur and former actress and singer-songwriter. She first became known as a Child actor, child actress and continued acting into adulthood, which overlapped with a musical car ...

Luke Perry Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III (October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019) was an American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the Fox television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. ...

Penny Marshall Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, film director, and producer. She is best known for ...

, and

Ashley Eckstein Ashley Eckstein (; born September 22, 1981) is an American actress and fashion designer. She is the founder of the fashion label Her Universe. She is best known for voicing the role of Ahsoka Tano throughout the ''Star Wars'' franchise, beginni ...

Plot

Alice McKinley (

) is an 11-year-old girl who is facing many challenges. Her mother, Marie, died when she was very young, so she never really got to know her. She lives with her brother Lester (

) and her father, Ben (

). The family moves to a new house, and soon meet their new neighbors, a girl Alice's age named Elizabeth (Parker McKenna Posey) and her mother. The next day Alice goes to school with Elizabeth and runs into a boy named Patrick ( Dylan McLaughlin), whom she accidentally walked in on in a dressing room a few days earlier in his underwear. They line up to find their teachers, and Alice wants to be in beautiful Miss Cole's (

) class. Instead, she winds up with the seemingly evil (but actually strict and caring) Mrs. Plotkin (

), who gives her a hard time. Alice tries out for a play that Miss Cole's class is directing, and really wants the princess role. However, she is tone-deaf (although her dad is a musician), so she doesn't get the part. Her arch rival Pamela (

) gets the role instead, and Alice lands the role of a frog. Pamela hasn't been very nice to Alice ever since she came to school. Alice tells her dad and brother about it, but they end up being discouraging. Her dad opens a new shop, and Alice tries to set up her dad and Miss Cole up, as she's searching for a mother figure to replace the one she lost, but her dad says she is too young for him. Then her dad starts dating a new girl, Kelly, (Jilanne Klaus) and Alice is afraid her father will marry her. One night, Alice sneaks downstairs and sees her father and Kelly kissing, and it really hurts her. Her Aunt Sally (

Ann Dowd Ann Dowd (born January 30, 1956) is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including '' Green Card'' (1990), ''Lorenzo's Oil'' (1992), ''Philadelphia'' (1993), '' Garden State'' (2004), '' The Manchurian Candidate'' (2004), '' M ...

), who is her mother's older sister, and her husband come to visit. Their father finds Aunt Sally annoying, as she thinks they can't take care of themselves. During the visit, Alice finds a video of her mother, and later watches the video. Her father reprimands her when he finds out, saying that those videos were private. Back at school, Alice slowly begins to bond with Mrs. Plotkin, and finds that she isn't as bad as everyone believes she is. She also realizes that Miss Cole isn't "all that". On the night of the play, Alice accidentally tears down the set, and everyone is upset at her, including Miss Cole. They tell her to leave, but Mrs. Plotkin consoles her. After the play, everyone apologizes, even Pamela. At the end of the film, Pamela and Alice are friends, Patrick asks Alice out, which leads to her having a daydream about her and Patrick kissing, and Lester is seen playing with his band, the Naked Nomads.

Cast

Soundtrack

''Alice Upside Down'' is a soundtrack album from the film of the same name, released on September 16, 2008 by Dauman Music and distributed by Federal Distribution.

Track listing

Reception

A critic from ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote, "''Alice Upside Down'' is a Disney Channel-ready tween comedy-drama that’s nicely anchored by an affable cast".

Home media

The film was released directly to DVD on July 29, 2008.

References

External links

* * * {{Sandy Tung 2007 direct-to-video films 2007 films 2007 comedy-drama films American children's comedy films American comedy-drama films American coming-of-age films American direct-to-video films Films based on children's books 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language comedy-drama films