>>REVIEW
HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS
STARRING: Luke Benward, Tom Cavanaugh and Kimberly Williams-Paisely
DIRECTED: BY Bob Dolman
Opens Friday, August 25
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Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, sitting in the garden eating worms, yum yum.
Anyone who ever read the book How to Eat Fried Worms, written by Thomas Rockwell, in elementary school, will be flooded with a childlike nostalgia when watching the book come to life on the big screen. The cast of characters in How to Eat Fried Worms are a lovable and quirky group of boys, as mischievous and entertaining to watch as the boys from the classic kids movie The Sandlot. The film is sure to become an instant classic and one that won’t drive parents or babysitters too crazy.
Luke Benward (Because of Winn-Dixie) plays Billy, the new kid at school whose boldness gets him into a messy situation. When pranksters, led by head-bully Joe, replace the contents of Billy’s thermos with a mound of worms, Billy is left embarrassed and angry in the lunchroom on his first day of school. Not afraid to stand up for himself, Billy accepts Joe’s challenge to eat 10 worms by 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. The loser of the bet will have to walk around the hallways of the school with tons of worms stuffed into his pants – ew, gross.
Billy’s weak stomach makes him doubt if he can actually eat worms, but his willpower says otherwise. The rest of the movie has the hilarious group of little boys concocting various recipes and methods to cook up the worms. They make a worm shake and fried worms with marshmallows and ketchup (just to name a few). The boys also do their research on the worms, finding out that worms have a "sphincter." Kimberly Williams-Paisley plays Billy’s mom and Tom Cavanaugh does a great job playing the Dad.
Watching a child eat gross, slimy worms is not for the weak of stomach and I found myself turning away whenever Billy would theatrically place the worm in his mouth and slowly start to chew.
Aside from the worm-eating business, like all children’s movies worth their salt, this one is full of moral lessons that kids and adults alike can learn from. Kids are sure to love How to Eat Fried Worms, as every child in attendance seemed thoroughly entertained when I left the theatre, even if they did seem to have gotten some wormy ideas in their heads. |
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