The movie “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” based on a popular book series by Jeff Kinney, is about an 11-year-old boy, convinced he will soon be famous and away from all the “morons” in his school, who writes all his experiences, starting middle school, in his “journal.”

Greg, and his innocent elementary school best friend, Rowley, try to climb the popularity spectrum in numerous ways. Greg’s ultimate goal for the school year is to make it into the class “favorites” in the yearbook, and more often than not he doesn’t act as kind or responsible as he ought to be, which prevents him from any success.

After many selfish endeavors, Greg learns what is really the most important to him.

Back when the first (the fifth will be out this year) “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” book with cartoons came out, I read it and thought it was very funny. Compared to the movie, the plot was very similar, with only a few twists and new characters.

Zachary Gordon plays Greg, who I don’t remember from any other films or TV shows, although he did have small parts in many. I didn’t really enjoy his acting very much, although it wouldn’t say it was thoroughly unsatisfactory.

My favorite character was Greg’s best friend, Rowley, who was portrayed hilariously by Robert Capron. He was very funny and generally clueless to how Greg believed he should act at school, but stayed true to himself and found friends anyway.

The movie was very entertaining, but the humor was more suitable for children and especially boys, since there were some gross things in it. Particularly “The Cheese” which is basically a piece of moldy cheese that had remained on the school basketball court for an entire year. If a child touched the cheese, he or she would have “Cheese Touch” and get rid of it by passing it to another student.

The plot was fairly predictable and there was no major action in it, but the message tapped into something that almost every student should be reminded of. The main characters learn that what things they all thought were just so important, whether it be not getting caught talking to the school outcast, sitting next to the coolest group of kids during lunch, or getting recognized in the yearbook, would not be nearly as vital to them later into their lives, and that there where better things to care about.

Overall, the movie was a decent film for children that can help remind us of what we truly should be devoted to and be fond of. I would recommend it to most kids beginning in middle school or still in elementary school as it would be most beneficial to them. It was an enjoyable, humorous, and mainly light hearted film, even if it wasn’t too sophisticated.

Aran Kirschenmann, 13, is a contributing writer for the Bellevue Reporter and an eighth grader at The International School in Bellevue.