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How to Eat Fried Worms (2006)
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Reviews Counted:70
Fresh:40
Rotten:30
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: This Fear Factor for kids is good-natured and tasty enough.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for mild bullying and some crude humor.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Aug 25, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $13,022,756
Synopsis: Thomas Rockwell's classic children's novel is adapted to the big screen in this delightful, touching adventure. Billy (charming newcomer Luke Benward, BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE) has just moved with his... Thomas Rockwell's classic children's novel is adapted to the big screen in this delightful, touching adventure. Billy (charming newcomer Luke Benward, BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE) has just moved with his parents and little brother, Woody (Ty Panitz) to a new town, and the first day of school does not go well for him. He gets on the wrong side of school bully Joe (Adam Hicks), and when he fights back--something none of the other kids have ever had the courage to do--he ends up accepting a dare to eat 10 worms in the course of one day. As Joe and his gang strive to cook up ever more revolting recipes, Billy gradually wins the respect of his peers, and gains courage in his own abilities too. He befriends Erika (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) and becomes the champion of the underdog, dispelling the myth of Joe's power and unexpectedly having a blast along the way. The film is spot-on in its depiction of a kid's universe, complete with peer pressure, the mild threat of adult intervention, and the occasional flight of fancy, such as the "witch" the boys encounter by the river. Billy's relationship with his pesky little brother is hilarious and something almost any kid can relate to, and his dad (Thomas Cavanagh, SCRUBS) provides an entertaining subplot that shows how some things don't change, no matter what age you are. [More]
Starring: Timothy Patrick Cavanaugh, Kimberly Williams, Thomas Cavanagh, Hallie Kate Eisenberg
Starring: Timothy Patrick Cavanaugh, Kimberly Williams, Thomas Cavanagh, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, James Rebhorn, Clint Howard, Andrew Gillingham, David Kaufman
Director: Bob Dolman
Director: Bob Dolman
Screenwriter: Bob Dolman
Producer: Philip Steuer, Mark Johnson
Composer: Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Mothersbaugh
Studio: New Line Cinema
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Reviews for How to Eat Fried Worms
An appealing juvenile cast distinguishes this otherwise uneven live-action adaptation of Thomas Rockwell's 1973 young adult book.
The anti-bullying message, which is the heart of the story, is too insistent, as the concocting and consuming of the ghastly worm-based snacks very quickly begins to point to a too-obvious conclusion.
Throughout this fifth-grade Fear Factor, there are scattered lessons on the ills of bullying, the benefit of being true to yourself, the joy of true friendship. But really, what boy is going to remember a moral when there's an exploding worm?
Bob Dolman sets dull-as-dishwater images to a straightforward adaptation of Thomas Rockwell's prize-winning kid-lit classic.
Dolman oversees this belabored big screen adaptation with the creative wiggle of a comatose earthworm...today's precocious pipsqueaks may find Worms a sappy act to swallow
Based on the, uh, classic kid's book, Fried Worms captures that feeling of spending a Saturday on a secret mission -- one that seems like the most important thing in the whole world -- until the next day, when you find another one.
bears all the hallmarks of a low-grade kiddie matinee, including... cardboard characters and several incidents in which people scream and run around for no apparent reason, except possibly to keep the audience from dozing off.
Somewhere in How to Eat Fried Worms is a message about keeping your word and the pitfalls of peer pressure.
One of the most amateurish essays in excruciating tedium I've encountered in a year that's hardly lacked for tedium.
This is a decidedly old-fashioned family film that may prove too quaint for modern auds.
A blandly inoffensive ‘After School Special’-type comedy based on a perennially popular children's book.
This unpromising set-up actually leads into an entertaining look into male posturing, overcoming new-kid syndrome, and a lesson on standing up for yourself and keeping your word.
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