Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is on par with a good sitcom like Malcolm in the Middle but never reaches the heights of a great one, like Arrested Development. What it does right is largely held over from the first film: it’s observant about behavior. Sure, it does right for the joke, but it’s a family film that won’t insult the intelligence of your whole family, provided you give into its giddy energy. Its core audience should have a ball.
Like the first, this is the story of young Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) who is unfortunately in that time in his life where every embarrassment feels like the end of the world, but he’s able to bounce back. Terrorized by his brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick, who played a real psychological terrorist in the incendiary Atom Egoyan film Adoration), he’s not having an easy time. Luckily his mom, Susan (Rachael Harris), who writes a local column once a week for the town’s paper on brotherhood, family and parenting creates strategies for managing this relationship, including “Mom Bucks” – for every hour they spend together not fighting she pays them. She starts them with 5 Mom Bucks and Rodrick immediately asks to cash out.
After an incident at church they are given the ultimate punishment. They have to stay in the house together. Rodrick, whose age isn’t given, throws a party. With his undisclosed age, I’m guessing he either dropped out of high school or finished and is lounging around the house playing rock music – a nice life if you can have it. Keeping with the PG rating it’s a wild night of soda drinking – on Friday. Partyin’, partyin’, partyin’, yeah!
The house is trashed and Rodrick and Greg bond in putting the place back together. Finding the downstairs bathroom door with graffiti, they replace it with a replica that is missing one detail: a lock. Greg won’t think his parents, especially his clueless dad Frank (Steve Zahn) will notice because they are “like 40.”
The film runs on formula, right down to Greg’s chubby best friend Rowley (Robert Capron). In a few years they could star in a remake: Diary of a Wimpy Kid presents Superbad. Also pure formula is the subject of Greg’s affections, Holly (Peyton List). The new girl has an impressive resume including professional modeling, a rarity in a small town. She’s sweet and smart, like she’s required to be, and they share a rather touching scene of bonding of their sibling rivalries later in the film.
I confess to enjoying the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid despite not being a reader of Jeff Kinney’s books and also not remembering very much of it. As a standalone entry this works as silly family fun, with a few big laughs along the way. Greg is sympathetic and the scenarios, which I’m willing to guess is a legacy from Kinney’s books, are effective in playing on commonly shared middle-school fears. The characters are all instantly likable, even sometimes Rodrick, making it work in spite of its shortcomings.
