For this review of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, I asked my grandkids, Jack, age 10 and Abbie, age 9, for their input. We all watched it twice and the kids watched the Deleted Scenes in the Special Features. We all really loved this movie. Jack and Abbie liked it because it was mostly funny, sometimes a little sad, and told the story of kids their age. They had read the book that the movie was based on, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, and so they already knew the story.
The movie is the story of a kid named Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) who is just beginning middle school, and is having a hard time of it. His main goal is to be popular and be accepted at school, but Greg is kind of a wimpy kid and small for his age. His best friend Rowley (Robert Capron) is kind of a nerd, so that doesn’t help any. During the course of the movie, Greg has conflicts with Rowley, and their friendship is challenged. Greg also faces the “tortures” of his older brother, and the revenge of a girl he had teased in kindergarten. Plus there is also the eventual revenge of some teenagers whose car Greg and Rowley had scraped on Halloween night. The film chronicles the dangerous territory that is middle school and Greg is an excellent narrator for this journey. He is kind of an “everyman” of middle school, and learns many valuable lessons and is wiser at the end of the movie. This is mostly a comedy, although there are also some sad and poignant scenes as well. The screenplay is smart and funny, and the actors, especially Zachary Gordon, do a great job.
Jack thinks that Diary of a Wimpy Kid is appropriate for viewers ages 6 to infinity. The middle school experience is so universal and so perfectly portrayed that most adults will generally have no trouble whatsoever enjoying the film. It’s great to get a bunch of laughs about a transitional time that is often awkward for a lot of us. No reservations at all about highly recommending this movie. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]
Comedy/Family
Rated PG
DVD Release Date: 8/3/10