Z/Web

The best indicator of how good this movie was is that not a single person left the theatre when the animated closing credits began. Everyone was having too good a time, adults and children alike! I was surprised and delighted. It’s a terrific family film. The story is about a boy nervous about entering middle school. (I gather that’s sixth grade — they had junior high when I was growing up.) The boy thinks he’s smarter than everyone else and is positive he’s going to be king of the school. Instead, everything he does to become popular sinks him lower and lower on the popularity scale. It’s fun, funny, and charming. I had feared from the trailer that there would be too much childish gross-out humor, but it’s only occasional, and mild, and only in places where it makes sense for the kids’ ages and the story. The film-making is well-done as well, with a nice blend of animation sequences mixed into the live action. The cast is phenomenal: the children are classic stereotypes but full of personality so that even the weird ones are hilarious charming. The film has a few slow moments and would have been even better trimmed by ten minutes, but mostly it’s excellent. Nothing too earthshattering or remarkable, I suppose, as the theme of “weird kid struggles to be accepted” has been done to death, but pleasant and certainly entertaining. It’s very family friendly, too (almost retro), which is somewhat remarkable in this day and age. Highly recommended.