Movie Time: Diary of A Wimpy Kid

Took my tween to this today since I had an assignment to see a flick. I have not read the books this movie was based on, however, my daughter has. It is a movie about a kid starting middle school and trying hard to fit in. He really wants to make it in the yearbook (i.e. - have made his mark somehow at his new school). It comes from the perspective of the little, good kid. Seems like these kinds of movies are often from the perspective of the bigger, cool kids who like to pick on the littler kids. Friendship is a big theme - what is important in a friend - someone who is popular and cool or someone who really knows YOU and looks out for you. The movie dances all around that theme and it ends with the main character regaining his best friend again and feeling all right about it all.

What appeals to adolescents in this movie is the topic of growing up, having a life outside of your home, finding your interests in the multitude of opportunities, the setting of middle school (especially for kids not yet in MS for this movie), and the bullying high school kids who come back to terrorize some middle school kids. This movie addresses the spectrum of maturity seen in middle schools - from pre-pubescent to post (guys who need to shave two times a day). One scene shows yearbook photos of kids taken in 5th, then in 6th to highlight how different they are. What happened over the summer?, Greg, the main character queries. Then he shows himself and a few others who really haven't changed at all, referring to that as normal. Probably a great movie for kids about to enter middle school. A 7th or 8th grader would probably be bored and think of it as more childish.