Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
Film Review by Kam Williams
Franchise's Fourth Episode Features New Cast Up to Old Tricks
According
to Murphy's Law, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."
And Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul provides cinematic support
for that pessimistic principle. For, this kitchen sink comedy relies
on the domino effect to exacerbate the ever-mounting misfortunes
visited upon the beleaguered Heffley family over the course of one
disastrous, summer road trip.
The
film is the fourth in the series based on Jeff Kinney's illustrated
children's novels. It was directed by David Bowers who also made
Wimpy Kid 2 and 3.
It's
understandable that the youngsters from the original might have aged
out of their roles, though it's a bit of a surprise that the movie
features an entirely new cast, starting with Jason Drucker as the
title character, Wimpy Greg Heffley. Alicia Silverstone and Tom
Everett Scott play his parents, Susan and Frank, while Charlie Wright
and Dylan Walters assume the roles of his older and younger brothers,
Rodrick and Manny, respectively.
The
premise of Wimpy Kid 4 revolves around a cross-country family outing
to attend grandma's 90th birthday party. The catch is that Susan
envisions the drive as an opportunity to share quality time, so she
collects everybody's cell phone devices before departing.
This
frustrates her fidgety brood who prove clueless without electronic
devices. So Rodrick calls her "the worst mom ever" and
sticks a "kidnapped" sign in the rear window which leads to
their being pulled over by the police.
Subsequent
eventful stops range from an overnight stay in a motel with rats in
the pool to a visit to a country fair where Manny wins a live piglet
as a prize. The humor flowing from the escalating insanity is mostly
of the bodily function variety: with farts, feces, burps and barfing
being real crowd-pleasers.
Every
skit is designed to keep the target audience of tykes and tots in
stitches, with only occasional asides for adults, such as the
inspired homage to Psycho's legendary shower scene.
Altogether,
a delightfully-mindless diversion for the pre-teen demographic!
Rated PG for rude humor
Running time: 91 minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
To see a trailer for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlI3Ykm3HV4
1 comment:
My son loves these books. They are a little tough for him to actually read at this point but there are so many illustrations that it doesn't matter. He can work his way through each book cracking up all the way. I think I might read them myself.
Zia
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