Diary of a Wimpy Kid – A 20th Century Fox Release

http://www.diaryofawimpykidmovie.com/

DVD Release Date: August 3rd, 2010

Rated PG language may offend

Running time: 92 minutes

 

Thor Freudenthal (dir.)

 

Jackie Filgo (screenplay)

Jeff Filgo (screenplay)

Gabe Sachs (screenplay)

Jeff Judah (screenplay)

 

Based on the books by Jeff Kinney

 

Theodore Shapiro (music)

 

Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley

Robert Capron as Rowley Jefferson

Rachael Harris as Susan Heffley

Steve Zahn as Frank Heffley

 

Our reviews below:

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid DVD Review By John C.

*1/2 (out of 4)

Based on the popular series of books by Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is brought to the screen through the use of voice-over narration and little animated drawings.  These techniques would have worked, had there actually been something palpable to work with.  Following the story of middle-school loner Greg Heffely (Zachary Gordon) and his struggle to climb the ladder of popularity, at every turn verbal wit is traded for uncalled for gross humour.

 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a disgusting little film for kids, with a humour level that never goes beyond jokes about moldy cheese, boogers, and urination.  Young kids might find this the funniest thing, but for me, it crossed a line from anything near funny to flat-out disgusting.  The cast of minors, including Chloe Grace Moretz, are all fine, but get absolutely no good material to work with.  The adults are all obnoxious stereotypes, with Steve Zhan and Rachael Harris turning in the worst performances as Greg’s parents.  And these are all main factors in making Diary of a Wimpy Kid one of the worst movies of the year.

 

The DVD includes commentary with director Thor Freudenthal and writer Gabe Sachs, as well as deleted scenes.  It is also available to buy as a Blu-ray/DVD combo-pack.

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid DVD Review By Erin V.

*3/4 (Out of 4)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is about Greg Heffley – a kid who seems more cocky/arrogant than wimpy.  He gets to middle school, and in an effort to be popular, makes even his best friend mad at him – big surprise.  Plus, the adults/teens in this film are all stupid, and the kids are complete stereotypes.  The kid actors are all fine for what they’re doing here, although Chloë Grace Moretz is the clearly the strongest of the group – and doesn’t even really belong in a film like this.

 

Sure, it will probably be enjoyed by some 8-10 year olds (mainly boys) although there are so many better films that they could be watching.  It plays out like a Saturday morning kids sitcom that if you watched it as a kid, you’d look back years later and be embarrassed at how much you liked it.

 

According to the synopsis on Apple Trailers, the novels Diary of a Wimpy Kid is based on, have sold 24 million copies – having not read them, I can only hope that with numbers like that, they’re better than the film was.

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid DVD Review By Nicole

*3/4 (out of 4)

Based on the books by Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid tells the story of one boy’s first year at middle school.  Greg, the main character, narrates the movie.  Being the “wimpy kid,” Greg has only his best friend to keep him company.  When Greg’s best friend becomes popular, Greg tries joining different school clubs to attempt to fit in.  But when Greg inadvertently gets his best friend in trouble, he has to decide whether to tell what really happened or not.

 

Sometimes when you take a popular children’s books, and translate is into a movie, you end up with a colossal failure.  I have not read the books, but I am sure the humour in Diary of a Wimpy Kid would be a lot funnier in a book.  On screen, I found the “humour,” which consisted of kids bullying other kids including Greg being tormented by his teenage brother, to be mean-spirited.  Greg’s father is depicted as a bumbling idiot.  Why is it that parents in kids “entertainment” are depicted this way?  And why is a piece of moldy cheese used as a major plot-point?

 

While the kid actors are decent, the material they are forced to work with isn’t.  The television program Malcolm in the Middle is an example of a misfit kid on-screen narrative done right.  If you want something to entertain the 8-12 year old boy market, skip Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and either read the books or rent the movie Shorts.

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid DVD Review By Maureen

*1/2 (out of 4)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is middle-school madness.  Based on the popular children’s books by Jeff Kinney, the movie tries to capture the same humour and tone using narration by the main character Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon), and black-and-white cartoon drawings.

 

What gives this middle school a failing grade for me is the underlying mean tone, the gross-out humour (moldy cheese anyone?), and the one-dimensional caricatures of the kids.  There are some decent actors in this movie including Canadian Devon Bostick as older brother Roderick and Kick-Ass‘ Chloe Grace Moretz as possibly the only interesting student at the school.

 

The only audience that I can see Diary of a Wimpy Kid appealing to would be 8-12 year old boys and probably only when they’re bored.  A better choice for rental would be Robert Rodriguez’ 2009 movie Shorts.  Fans of the original books may want to check out Diary of a Wimpy Kid or even better, they could re-read the book.

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid DVD Review By Tony

* (out of 4)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, based on Jeff Kinney’s illustrated novel, covers the first year of middle school for Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon).  I won’t begin as usual with a brief synopsis, as it is too unpleasant to recall the details.  Though some may admire the title character’s running commentary accompanied by the book’s crude cartoons, the cynical tone and lame gross out humour never let up. Discouraged by his older garage band brother (Devon Bostick) Jeff’s contempt for everyone in middle school (including his chubby grade school best friend) is reflected back at him, so his unpopularity is rivalled only by the South Asian kid (really!). Every selfish attempt to gain status through extracurricular activities backfires, always publicized by Angie (Chloë Grace Moretz), the arrogant and aloof school paper editor.

 

Dumb stereotypes abound, including the parents and whole school faculty.  Just before seeing this film I happened to see Ramona and Beezus, which might be considered its female counterpart. Though not very good, its sweet inoffensiveness by comparison leaves DoaWK at the bottom of the trash heap.

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Consensus: Based on an immensely popular series of children’s books, the humour in this big-screen adaptation of Diary of a Wimpy Kid never goes beyond that of the gross-out variety, making this an often disgusting film to watch. *1/2 (Out of 4)