Le journal d'un dégonflé

This is a film for children. It's considered a family movie, but if you graduated from school you better skip it. The story of a 12-year-old who wants to be popular at a new school at all costs, but tries in the wrong and ugly ways, and after much peripeteia finally learns his lesson. The classic story of friendship, selfishness and sacrifice, bullying, complexes, and responsibilities ... there's nothing new that could interest anyone older than the movie's protagonists. It's not bad in any aspect, but it doesn't really stand out in any way either.

6/10

I saw Diary of a Wimpy Kid (DOAWK) at a Cineplex large screen (full-price), with 2 grand-daughters, one of whom has read the books (I haven't). I concur with others that the film starts out promising, but tends to bog down in the middle. The main character becomes a little mean-spirited, and the fun begins to fade somewhat. I gather that the books contain a certain cynical tone for the main character, and that the humour plays off that. When you transfer to a screenplay, you have to get the 'voice' right, or else the gags don't work.

I might compare it to describing a Seinfeld plot to a bewildered foreigner: "you see, George takes a disabled parking spot at the mall, causing a girl in a wheelchair to have an accident, so George and Kramer buy her a replacement wheelchair that has defective brakes, and she goes screaming down a hill.." sounds mean, huh? it's not -- it's hilarious WHEN you see it in context. Maybe that's what happens in DOAWK -- incorporating several ideas from the books resulted in some 'losing the context', so to speak.

However, family films are few and far between these days, and this is passable family fun. My advice? if you have a matinée-priced theater, go see it. At full price? stay home and watch your 'Better off Dead' DVD on your big screen TV.

The film was similar to "A Christmas Story" in relating the troubled life of a 'tween in school, but came nowhere close to being on the same level. I was disappointed.

Steve Zahn was just bizarre as the father. Not really funny--just strange. Some of the situations were very promising, but the comic potential was not fully realized. Through about the first hour, I smiled occasionally. But then I thought the film was really going to take off, with the scene about auditions for The Wizard of Oz. But that potential just fizzled out.

I am wondering if the film was directed solely toward pre-adolescents. Maybe they would think this film is hilarious. I found it to be pleasant, but not something I would recommend to anyone, and it's not really a film I'd care to see again.

We went to see the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Movie this past week with a number of adults and kids and I have to say that everyone absolutely loved this movie. There is something for everyone to relate to in this movie, young or old. It stays true to the book which was a concern all of us had before seeing the movie. However, you don't have to read the book to enjoy this movie. In addition, the adaptation from the book to "silver screen" was one of the better ones I have seen and the transformation captured the essence of the story intact. There were a few additional scenes added to the movie that weren't in the book, but they kept in step with the story and didn't detract at all from the enjoyment of the film.

The cast was all well picked. The main character of the movie, Greg Heffley (played wonderfully by Zachary Gordon) stayed true to the book and he was totally believable. Everyone felt that this kid actor, Zach Gordon, did a great job of bringing life to this complex character and transforming Greg Heffley from a cartoon stick figure in the books to a real live person, while maintaining all his idiosyncrasies. It was also fun to watch him as, at times, he has these great facial expressions. The beauty of the movie was the added sensitivity and emotionality that presented itself in the film that wasn't available to us in the novel.

In the movie, Greg led us on an emotional roller-coaster ride throughout the film: first we liked him, then we hated him, then we felt sorry for him, then we loved him. His relationship with his best friend Rowley along with its ups and downs (hey, just like real life) was great for kids to see. For adults, it would remind us of the "real" friendships we had (from simpler times) in those early Jr. High School years. Before computers we had real "live" friendships and we really did go over to our friends' houses to "play".

I did not find the movie "trite" "predictable", or "slow". The comedy was evenly paced and kept the attention of the audience throughout, including my kids. This is a very entertaining movie that can be enjoyed by adults as well as kids. If you want a fun, witty, wholesome, and relatable story that will both touch and entertain you at the same time, go see this movie, it won't disappoint.

I really enjoyed the movie. The movie depicts the life of a teen Greg (Zachary Gordon) who has his issues of longing to be famous in the middle school.He ranks himself 19 on the popularity list.He has a dream to fulfill.He considers his previous friends 'who were not able to grow up' according to him ... morons and tries to maintain his standard by keeping his distance from the infamous.His best friend Rowley however though weird in his ways,as Greg considers him 'still not Middle school ready',keeps on posing a threat to his popularity position. Chloe Moretz has a wonderful role herself in the movie however her appearance is short.But the story is however about the wimpy kid and hence that becomes justified.There are a lot of funny moments in the movie and you would smile every now and then on their innocence.There is one another character Fregley- Greg places him at the last position in the popularity list. There is this funny moment wherein whoever touches the piece of stale cheese is considered to have THE CHEESE TOUCH. Whoever touches that person takes with himself the cheese touch.Even a cockroach was concerned about its dignity. No matter how hard he tries he always gets branded every now and then as the douche.Eventually however Greg learns that it really doesn't matter if one is on the top of the popularity list in the school but what matters the most is being on the top of the list of your best friends. A little act of genius and sacrifice vindicates him eventually. I found the movie totally enjoyable as guys we were kids once remember after all ! We used to consider some little and petty things as important, didn't we ? The sequel to the movie - Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules is set to hit the theaters in March 2011 and I'm looking forward to it as well. The movie was really cute and I wish everyone watches it although I'll give it a 6 as it wasn't excellent though but the movie is highly recommended if you want to relive a part of your past.