Diary of a Wimpy Kid (PG)      

Dir. Thor Freudenthal, USA , 94mins, 2010

Cast: Zachary Gordon, Rob ert Capron, Steve Zahn, Chloe Moretz

Review by Matthew Rodgers

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is the film adaptation of Jeff Kinney's reportedly popular series of children's illustrated novels that tells the tale of Gregg Hefley (Zachary Gordon) - “ smaller than 95% of kids at my school” and looking incidentally nothing like Plug, the “Beano” comic character to whom Wimpy Kid bore such a strong resemblance in his early incarnation) and his coming-of-age journey through the trials and tribulations of middle school.

Along with his rotund best friend, Rowley (Capron), Gregg navigates life with a fantastically vivid imagination that's recorded via the scribblings on his diary, in which he notes events filtered through the eyes of a child.

The source material's staggered journal entry structure translates perfectly, in that the film is an episodic archive of juvenile stunts, some funny – a very weird mother/son Beastie Boys dance competition and a rib tickling rehearsal of Total Eclipse of the Heart – and others that are repetitively tedious – trick or treat and any number of the staple scenes that feature our wimpy lead getting picked last at sport – that merely add to the ambling nature of the narrative and to which only the youngest of children will relate or tolerate.

The child actors are also from a mixed ability class.  Kick Ass queen Chloe Moretz, assured and likeable in a cameo role as the class cool kid, is about three grades ahead and head and shoulders above the lot of them. The problem child in the class is the lead character. He is a smug little jerk with no notion of self deprecation or awareness, and how are youngsters meant to empathise with the adolescent arrogance he displays at the narrator? And the way that he treats the admittedly annoying Rowley is deplorable. So what if it helps the moralistic wrap up? He was still a douche to him throughout.

The only intrigue comes from the constant callbacks to a piece of mouldy cheese that is stuck to the playground floor. What is it doing there? Does it have a deeper meaning? Am I really having to deconstruct a piece of cheese?

Aiming to be a feature length version of Malcolm in the Middle , and initially promising to mature into Wonder Years territory, Wimpy Kid sadly ends up without the nuance or mischievous hilarity of either of those classic predecessors. But if you or more importantly your kids are left in stitches by boogers, kicks to the nether regions, or disgusting toilet humour, then this is the film for your family.