Family-Faith Film Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
By Catholic Office of Film and Broadcasting
Diary of a Wimpy Kid—Mostly likeable, though lightweight coming-of-age comedy about the travails of a first-year middle school student (Zachary Gordon) whose ill-conceived efforts to gain popularity and status in his new environment — frequently, though unintentionally sabotaged by the carefree nerdiness of his long-standing best friend (Robert Capron) — instead see him slipping lower and lower in the lunchroom and recess pecking order, while his home life is made miserable by the petty bullying of his cocky older brother (Devon Bostick). Director Thor Freudenthal’s adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s best-selling 2007 novel in cartoon format offers lessons about loyalty, self-sacrificing friendship and gaining genuine acceptance by being true to yourself; but the proceedings sometimes veer into mildly off-color humor, and the script makes it clear — albeit in a restrained way — that one of the hierarchical divisions separating the students is based on the rate of pubescent physical development. Brief images of a scantily clad woman, a few instances of mildly gross and scatological humor, a couple of vaguely sexual jokes, at least one crass term. A-II — adults and adolescents. (PG) 2010
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