Popular ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ Book Comes to Life on the Big Screen

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CHICAGO – “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” and main character Greg Heffley, is familiar to a generation of kid book lovers through the line drawings of creator Jeff Kinney. The film version has child actor Zachary Gordon bringing Greg to life.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Greg Heffley is starting his first day of middle school, and is desperate to fit in on his self-proclaimed popularity index – he is a generously ranked 19th. The problem is he is associated with some less-than-popular fellow travelers. His best friend Rowley Jefferson (Robert Capron), is still stuck in the less cool elementary school mode (he asks Greg to come over and “play” rather than “hang out”) and Greg is also forced to eat in the cafeteria on the floor with the dreaded, weird Fregley (Grayson Russell).

But he does have a mode of survival. It is his diary, in which he chronicles his adventures and tragedies through the school year ordeal, complete with cartoon illustrations. His attempts to raise his popularity index mostly falls flat, as he mistakes wrestling and safety patrol for tickets to the top tier. His home life is no better, as his older brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick) consistently tortures him, and his Mom and Dad are stuck in squaresville.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”

Banished!: Grayson Russell as Fegley, Zachary Gordon as Greg & Robert Capron as Rowley in ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ Photo Credit: Rob McEwan for © 2010 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”