Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)

We’ve got all of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books at my house, but what little I know of the details therein are provided to me by my almost 9-year-old daughter, as I have not read any of them myself. She is constantly entertained by them, and that’s good enough for me because she’s not a big fan of reading, so anything that captivates her attention is worthy in my book.

So when I watched the film version of Jeff Kinney’s first book in the series, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, along with my daughter (who was seeing it for the second time), I quickly realized that it would be somewhat ignorant of me to tune out and stamp this as the “worst movie of the year” without giving it a shot. Is it my kind of movie? Perhaps not. But I always teach my students to measure a movie’s success by how well it accomplishes what it sets out to. And by that measuring stick, WIMPY KID is, surprisingly, quite good.

The story, for those of you who have not read, centers around scrawny Greg Heffley as he enters middle school. His older brother, Rodrick, terrifies him with stories of how horrible middle school will be, and Greg’s experiences live up to Rodrick’s gloomy predictions. Greg has a best friend, Rowley, who is chubby and has no clue socially as to how either of them can move up the popularity ladder. This results in Greg treating Rowley quite poorly in a number of different situations, and his actions often—in fact usually—backfire on him.

The best thing about DIARY OF A WIMPY KID is that it is made specifically for kids. The film lacks the typical inside jokes woven into the scripts of kids films for the sake of appeasing adult audiences. I found that refreshing, especially since the film also accomplishes something rather unique for a modern kid’s movie, and that is that it is maturity-level appropriate for its audience.

Go figure. A movie about sixth graders where the problems they face are actual sixth grade problems and the actors appear to be age appropriate. Nothing in WIMPY KID is too advanced for its age; the jokes, scenarios, and even the clothing the kids wear, is what a real middle schooler would look like. I’m so tired of the movies and television that my daughter watches subliminally forcing her to grow up too quickly and champion materialistic virtues. Though my middle school experience (it was junior high back then) wasn’t nearly as miserable as Greg’s is here, this movie more closely resembles that time in life than most of the stuff on TV.

As Greg, Zachary Gordon is engaging and watchable. And director Thor Freudenthal, who previously helmed another of my kids’ favorite live action films in recent years, “Hotel For Dogs,” keeps the jokes coming and the pace moving. It’s a fast and fun film that I’m sure holds up to repeat viewings.

Better than the film itself was listening to my daughter, as we cuddled on the couch, tell me which parts were in the book and which ones were changed. That conversation was heightened by the film’s frequent inclusion of Kinney’s now-famous stick-figure drawings from his novels, sprinkled throughout the film’s narrative. They added whimsy to the viewing experience and strengthened, I’m certain, the book-to-movie translation.

Is DIARY OF A WIMPY KID a children’s film masterpiece? Not by any means. It’s no “Babe,” no “A Christmas Story.” But it very handily accomplishes what it should, and it’s a lot of fun. To watch it and not think so is to have fallen out of touch with your inner wimpy kid.

3.0 out of 4