How to Eat Fried Worms
Aug. 19th, 2006 04:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiSo, thanks to Shakefire, we (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shadesong, Elayna, gwynraven, and yours truly) snagged passes for a preview screening of How to Eat Fried Worms.
Quick summary: As adaptations go, it's pretty weak. As stand-alone movies go, it's damned fun.
Basically, if you don't remember the Rockwell novel that well, or don't care about seeing that particular story on screen, you can count on a solid story with good acting, solid writing, and lots of gross stuff (mostly revolving around the titular activity and not, thankfully, around fart jokes). Frankly, I think the story that the movie tells --dealing with bullying, some of the scary changes kids have to deal with, and peer pressure, is a better story than the one told in the novel.
The cast of kids -- mostly unknowns -- are, par for the course in a Walden Media property ,damned good. The adult cast is very much a supporting cast, but features Tom Cavanaugh and Kimberly Williams-Paisley as the parents, Andrea Martin as a wacky teacher, James Rebhorn as the principal, and Clint Howard in a bit part as the owner of a diner.
The big surprise in the cast, however, is Hallie Kate Eisenberg. The former Pepsi Girl. When she was last on my radar, she was doing those Pepsi commercials and awful Robin Williams movies, and she was basically short, adorable, and coasting on the fact that she was cute. Now, she's not only tall (a running gag in the movie), but she can really act. No hamming it up or overacting cuteness; she just fades naturally into her character.
Overall, an enjoyable way to spend ninety minutes. It's not a modern classic like Holes, but it's fun and well done.
As a bonus -- the 94 Lite people (who co-sponsored the movie) hid a bunch of prizes underneath random seats, and we scored a copy of Nanny McPhee!
ETA: The HTEFW movie has a blog! Because everyone has a blog now. But this one's pretty decent, with nice behind-the-scenes stories by the cast and crew.
shadesong, Elayna, gwynraven, and yours truly) snagged passes for a preview screening of How to Eat Fried Worms. Quick summary: As adaptations go, it's pretty weak. As stand-alone movies go, it's damned fun.
Basically, if you don't remember the Rockwell novel that well, or don't care about seeing that particular story on screen, you can count on a solid story with good acting, solid writing, and lots of gross stuff (mostly revolving around the titular activity and not, thankfully, around fart jokes). Frankly, I think the story that the movie tells --dealing with bullying, some of the scary changes kids have to deal with, and peer pressure, is a better story than the one told in the novel.
The cast of kids -- mostly unknowns -- are, par for the course in a Walden Media property ,damned good. The adult cast is very much a supporting cast, but features Tom Cavanaugh and Kimberly Williams-Paisley as the parents, Andrea Martin as a wacky teacher, James Rebhorn as the principal, and Clint Howard in a bit part as the owner of a diner.
The big surprise in the cast, however, is Hallie Kate Eisenberg. The former Pepsi Girl. When she was last on my radar, she was doing those Pepsi commercials and awful Robin Williams movies, and she was basically short, adorable, and coasting on the fact that she was cute. Now, she's not only tall (a running gag in the movie), but she can really act. No hamming it up or overacting cuteness; she just fades naturally into her character.
Overall, an enjoyable way to spend ninety minutes. It's not a modern classic like Holes, but it's fun and well done.
As a bonus -- the 94 Lite people (who co-sponsored the movie) hid a bunch of prizes underneath random seats, and we scored a copy of Nanny McPhee!
ETA: The HTEFW movie has a blog! Because everyone has a blog now. But this one's pretty decent, with nice behind-the-scenes stories by the cast and crew.
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Date: 2006-08-19 09:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-19 09:42 pm (UTC)There's also sex, nudity, and pot smoking, although in lesser degrees. Violence is really king here.