小屁孩日记3

The movie begins as protagonist Greg (Zachary Gordon) is finishing Grade 7 and looking forward to a summer spent playing video games. This doesn't sit well with his father, who finds the kid, if not an embarrassment, then at least a cipher, being uninterested in sports, camping, fishing and outdoor activities generally.

There are mild pleasures to be found in the episodic adventures of Greg and his best friend Rowley (Robert Capron) as they while away their summer. Banned from video games by his father, Greg takes to hanging out at the local country club as a guest of Rowley.

Greg's mishaps include finding love (but only at tennis), accidentally turning the tide in a civil war battle re-enactment, fighting with the family dog, inadvertent skinny dipping and being generally hoisted by his own petard. But despite some early pee jokes and the fact that Greg's brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick) is in a band called Loded Diper, the script manages to avoid an excess of toilet humour.

The result should reliably amuse young fans of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books without driving their parents insane. They may even bond, as Greg and his dad do, over a shared dislike of a newspaper comic called L'il Cutie.

The actors, including Peyton List as Holly Hills, Greg's love interest, do a good job of fleshing out their roles after being introduced as the stick-figure drawings of Kinney's books. It probably helps that they're not being asked to dramatize any important life lessons. Greg and Rowley may end the summer a few months older and a smidgen wiser, but there are no Hallmark moments along the way. Between that and an air-conditioned theater, what more could a kid ask for?

(SD-Agencies)