Parents' Guide to

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Adorable comedy about middle-school anxieties...and farts.

Movie PG 2010 90 minutes
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 8+

Based on 76 parent reviews

age 10+

Don’t give in - there are such better options

Greg Heffley, is a lying video game addict who manipulates his friends, disrespects his parents, and doesn’t show personal growth . Greg is a liar. He lies to his parents, his teachers, his friends, and his peers. He’s not just any liar: he’s a skilled, sneaky one. For example, when his dad tells him to go play outside, Greg goes to a friend’s house and plays video games. Then he soaks himself in a sprinkler so it looks like he’s been running around working up a sweat, thereby deceiving his dad. On another occasion, Greg deceives his friend’s parents by sneaking in a forbidden violent video game in the case of an educational one. Let’s talk about the video games. Greg lives for his video games, and he prefers violent ones. He describes car-racing as too babyish, and resents his friend’s contentment with such boring games. The more violent the game, the cooler for Greg. When Christmas comes, he sulks about not getting the particularly violent video game he wants and is ungrateful for all his other presents. Greg has a rather sweet, slightly immature best friend, Rowley, whom he manipulates and bullies. He beats up Rowley using all the same moves his own brother used to beat him up. He makes fun of Rowley’s simpler tastes in video games and humor. On one occasion, he convinces Rowley to ride a big wheel down a hill repeatedly while Greg throws a football at his head to try to knock him off. This is the great friendship in the book, and I actually found it truly sad to read. Greg has a abysmal view of adults in general. He considers them dumb and easily tricked. Unfortunately, in this story the adults are rather dumb and easily tricked. He repeatedly gets around video game grounding by sneaking off to game at his friend Rowley’s house. He tricks Rowley’s parents by sneaking in video games they have expressly forbidden in their home. Greg’s teachers are also sometimes taken in by his lies. The ending of the book is supposed to provide a shade of redemption in one area of Greg’s life at least: he finally does something kind for Rowley. But here’s the problem: the kind act is telling a lie to get Rowley out of an embarrassing predicament. At this point, I was asking, really, Jeff Kinney? That’s the best redemptive moment you can come up with? There are miscellaneous other problematic areas of the book. One that really bothered me was a scenario where Greg’s older brother left a bikini pictures magazine laying out and Greg’s littler brother took it to show and tell. This is supposed to be hilarious; it’s most certainly not what I want my 8-12 year old laughing about. There is also extensive potty humor, lots of bullying at the school, a scene where the angry dad throws objects at Greg, and really resentful sibling relationships. All things considered, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is one of the last books I’d ever give my child to read. Don’t fall into the trap of believing junk food books like this are all is out there for your reluctant reader! There are so, so many better books out there! Check out my lists for 8 to 9 year olds , 10 to 11 year olds, and Graphic Novels and Comic Books for some awesome alternative options!
age 11+

No for kids

Movie full of bullying, kids been mean and liars and bad example to follow... includes porn images and bad parents thst dont guide the bad behavior of his kids ... words like stupid jerk i will kill you moron ... kids touching buts... trying to ridicule a boy putting fatness , cloth type and others as an stereotype of non being popular...

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (76 ):
Kids say (294 ):

If you can stomach boy-world jokes about bodily functions and middle-school anxiety, this adaptation is deliciously age appropriate and wittily executed. Unlike many other movies featuring child actors, none of this ensemble (with the possible exception of Moretz) look plucked from the world of juvenile modeling. They do look like the sort of wimpy, uncool kids the more physically developed, socially adept middle-schoolers have always and will always push to the side. Gordon is a riot as the determined but clueless Greg, but as his BFF Rowley, Capron is definitely the scene stealer of the movie, imbuing his chunky, sunny character with an adorable sense of self. The Heffley parents, played by veteran comedic actors Steve Zahn and Rachael Harris are forgettable, as this is one of those rare movies where adults are rather unnecessary.

The running gag in Diary of a Wimpy Kid is utterly brilliant in its simplicity. There's a moldy, way-past-rotten slice of cheese that nobody, even the school janitor, bothered to throw away. As time passed, any student who even accidentally touched the cheese was branded with the "cheese touch," a malady infinitely worse than the cooties. There are various close-ups of the cheese as it ages throughout the school year, and it's obvious something truly awful is going to happen with the cheese. Of course, the "cheese touch" is just a stand-in for all of the myriad artificial reasons young adolescents alienate each other during those horrifying years we call middle school.

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