I always have mixed feelings when a film like Diary of a Wimpy Kid comes out....I initially feel elation and immediately call over my tween daughter to exult over the fact that Hollywood has finally made a film version of a tremendously beloved book that we have shared... But then I feel anxiety that the film will not adequately capture the essence and feel of the book, or perhaps not bother at all, merely slapping the brand name on their crappy flick to sell it to a lot of know nothing goobs who love to flush their money down the....(Whoops, sorry I kind of lost it there!) At the end of viewing Diary, I came to the conclusion that my feelings about this film were....well, mixed.
In case you don't read much young adult or tween literature, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a journal (not a diary!) kept by a boy named Greg Heffley about his experiences of being a new six grader at his local junior high. Sprinkled among the hilarious text are cartoons of himself, his family, friends and enemies. The whole mix is really a quite hilarious meditation on standing out and fitting in, reminding me of Matt Groenig's Life in Hell or The Simpsons. It took me back to my own experience of Junior High...struggling to find a personal identity or noticing girls for the first time or exploring the depths of school popularity.
Animation and art were taken from the books to adorn the beginning and end credits along with being sprinkled liberally through the film at certain points and this was quite entertaining...but it underscored a problem I have with the film and that is the casting of at least of the hero character Greg Heffley and his family...they all seem too blow dried and good looking to fully inhabit the characters we see portrayed in the hilarious books. I understand that in the books, Greg and his family are rendered in the style that he sees them...goofy and sometimes silly or gross. Unfortunately the actors cast seem almost too attractive to live up to the book's characterizations. The film does a better job in the casting of Greg's friends and classmates, particularly Rowley, played by Robert Capron. Capron really steals the show and gets some of the film's best lines and most comic moments.
But to be fair, most of the time, Diary gets it right, picking up on the hilarious and yet heartbreaking moments of discovering yourself and how that self fits into the whole scheme of things.....Greg tries out for athletics, the school newspaper, crossing guards in an effort to realize popularity. This will cause him to question his most important relationships with his best friend Rowley and his family. Being a family film meant to draw in kids and amuse their parents who have been drug along, Diary does fall into some time honored (and sleep inducing) cliches...like being true to yourself and your friends and various instances of farting, belching, and other poopy humor techniques. But in the final estimation, I felt entertained, a little wiser, and not ready to run screaming from the room as I do from most live action Disney comedies! Diary of a Wimpy Kid is worth the effort of your family to view even with the PG rating for older children.
Rating of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A reserved 3.5 stars!!
