Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)
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A middle school student navigates the social minefield of his first year of school while attempting to gain popularity.
The story
Preteen Greg Heffley documents his daily life in a diary, hoping for future fame. On his first day of middle school, he faces various challenges, including navigating the social dynamics of the cafeteria and the physical education grounds. Greg and his best friend, Rowley Jefferson, encounter a social curse known as the 'Cheese Touch' and attempt to navigate the school's social hierarchy. Greg sets a goal to become the most popular student in school and earn a place in the yearbook as 'Class Clown' while dealing with the realities of his new environment.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Greg Heffley enters middle school and documents his experiences in a diary. He and his friend Rowley Jefferson encounter the 'Cheese Touch' and attempt to navigate school life. During Halloween, they are chased by teenagers and end up damaging a truck. In an attempt to gain popularity, they join the Safety Patrol and a cartoonist contest. After a series of mishaps, including a broken arm and a misunderstanding involving a truck and a pack of kindergartners, their friendship is strained. After a confrontation over a video game, they are cornered by the teenagers from Halloween. They are forced to face the cheese, but Greg takes the blame for Rowley to save his reputation. They reconcile and end the year as 'Cutest Friends' in the yearbook.
- First release year
- 2010
- Runtime (minutes)
- 92
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Thor Freudenthal
- Writers
- Jackie Filgo · screenplay; Jeff Filgo · screenplay; Jeff Judah · screenplay; Gabe Sachs · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Zachary Gordon · Greg Heffley; Robert Capron · Rowley Jefferson; Rachael Harris · Susan Heffley; Steve Zahn · Frank Heffley
- Genres
- comedy; children's comedy
- Themes
- coming-of-age; friendship; popularity
- Tone and mood
- comedy
- Premise and plot tags
- school; diary; middle school
- Source material / true-story basis
- Jeff Kinney's 2007 novel
- Franchise connections
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics but was well-received by audiences, earning an A- from CinemaScore.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 56 · scale: 100 · review count: 26
- Production trivia
- The animated sequences were created using 3D animation rendered with a rough sketch shader to appear 2D.; The film was the biggest start ever for a non-animated, non-fantasy children's book adaptation.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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