The film version of Kinney's book stars Zachary Gordon as 11 year old Greg Heffley who is just about to start middle school with his dorky best friend Rowley (Robert Capron). Despite his older brother Rodrick's (Devon Bostick) warnings that he will get eaten alive by the experience, Greg is confident that he will quickly rise to the top of the food chain with ease. He is concerned, however, that Rowley's uncool tendencies may make the task more difficult. Steve Zahn appears randomly as Mr. Heffley and Chloë Moretz - somehow looking much older than she does in Kick-Ass - is a movie-only wizened 7th grader.
Having not read the books, which are apparently quite popular with kids these days, I can't make any comparisons, but the movie does seem to keep up the whole journal aspect complete with humourous sketches. The whole thing is pretty much one big lesson on being yourself / not caring what others think of you. Greg tries so hard to avoid embarrassment that it is embarrassing in and of itself. Having been homeschooled I didn't have the whole middle school experience but something tells me that I didn't miss much, especially if this film is at all representative in its obviously (?) exaggerated portrayal.
The kid actors are all superb, which is a good thing since 95% of screen time is with them. Moretz seems a little thrown in there, which her character was, but I would have liked to see more of her anyway. There were some random bits of CG that felt a bit out of place - like the infamous cheese - and I think it could have worked better perhaps as drawings.
Diary of a Wimpy kid is a nice kid's movie that reminds me a bit of a live action version of Disney's Recess, though not quite as clever. While cute, this movie will probably appeal mostly to the young fans of the books more than any other demographic.
*** (3/5 stars)
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