Psycho's Movie Reviews #410: Diary Of Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is a 2012 American comedy film directed by David Bowers from a screenplay by Wallace Wolodarsky and Maya Forbes. It stars Zachary Gordon and Steve Zahn. Robert Capron, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris, Peyton List, Grayson Russell, and Karan Brar also have prominent roles. It is the third (originally intended final) instalment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series. 20th Century Fox released the film on August 3, and it earned $77.1 million on a $22 million budget.

The film is based on the third and fourth books of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series, The Last Straw and Dog Days, respectively. The "Holly Hills" and "Spag Union" portions of the film are featured in the third book, while much of the rest is based on the fourth book.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is also the last film in the series to feature the original cast members, as many of the cast (such as Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron and Devon Bostick) outgrew their roles and new actors were cast for the next instalment Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, which was released on May 19, 2017.

Plot

Months after the events of the previous film, the Heffleys go to the crowded local pool, where they run into Lenwood Heath, a former delinquent who has since reformed after attending Spag Union, a military school that begins at the eighth grade. Frank notes that Greg is about to enter eighth grade and considers signing him up.

Greg's summer gets off to a rocky start: after learning that Greg spent his entire first day playing video games, Frank disables the family's television set. Meanwhile, Susan starts a Book Club for Greg and his friends, but forces them to read classics. Susan urges Frank to spend more time with Greg. Frank takes him to go fishing and to a Civil War reenactment, but Greg constantly messes up to Frank's frustration.

A few weeks later, Rowley invites Greg to the local country club. Initially reluctant, Greg decides to continue joining Rowley as a guest after learning that his crush, Holly Hills, teaches tennis there. Frank surprises Greg with an unpaid summer internship at his office, hoping that he and Greg can bond. Disliking the idea, Greg lies about getting a job at the country club, to his parents' delight. The family later gets a dog, which Manny names Sweetie, and Greg’s parents give him a starter cell phone, a "Ladybug", which only allows him to call home or 911.

Rowley invites Greg on a family trip to a rented beach house near the boardwalk, and the two go on a ride called the Cranium Shaker that Rodrick suggested. Greg becomes increasingly uneasy with the Jeffersons' eccentric lifestyle and secretly uses Rowley's father Robert's computer to email Susan to get himself out of the trip. The Jeffersons confront Greg after he accidentally sent the email to everyone on Robert's contact list. Greg desperately tries to call home using his Ladybug phone, but inadvertently calls 911, leading to Rowley's father almost getting arrested for coming to the door with a knife in his hand. Greg is sent home early, and his father starts to believe that Rowley is a bad influence.

A few days later, Rowley informs Greg he's no longer allowed to invite him to the country club, but Greg sneaks in by impersonating club members. After Rodrick learns that his crush, Holly's sister Heather Hills, is also a member, he asks Greg to help him sneak in as well. Greg reconciles with Rowley and gets Löded Diper a gig for Heather's sweet sixteen, to Rodrick's delight. One morning at the country club, Robert confronts Frank and Greg over Greg's purchase of two hundred and sixty dollars worth of smoothies. Frank mentions that Greg has a "job" at the country club, but the manager denies this. Learning the truth of Greg's deception, Frank confesses his disappointment with his son. Shortly after, Rodrick reveals to Greg that a Spag Union disc has been mailed to them, to the latter's horror.

Rodrick urges Greg to go on the "Wilderness Weekend" outing with his school classmates to impress Frank. During the trip, Fregley tells a scary story about a "Muddy Hand". After mistaking Frank's hand for the Muddy Hand and hitting it with a mallet, Greg admits his guilt over constantly messing up. The next day, after overhearing Frank's boss Stan Warren insult Frank over his lack of camping skills, Greg sets a trap with his friends and sneaks into Warren's tent, where he learns that their troop has been cheating by using household appliances. Warren discovers Greg and insults him, but Frank chastises Warren for faking his camping skills. Warren then runs into Greg's trap, humiliating himself. At a motel, Frank confesses he never liked camping at all and decides not to send Greg to Spag Union, to Greg's surprise and delight. He also talks to him about learning from mistakes and taking responsibility, making them both realize they are more alike than they thought.

At Heather's party a few days later, Löded Diper performs a hard rock cover of "Baby" with Rodrick on lead vocals to try to impress Heather. The performance goes awry when he accidentally knocks over a huge ice bust of Heather, causing her to try and assault him with a microphone stand, only for her to smash a chocolate fountain, ending the party in disaster. Holly holds Greg's hand, and they both spend the rest of their summer together with Rowley. Greg remarks that he may look back on it as the best summer ever.

Production

Principal photography began on August 8, 2011, in Vancouver and was completed on October 7, 2011. The location for the country club pool was Eagle Ridge Outdoor pool in Coquitlam, BC. Filming at Eagle Ridge Outdoor pool took place during the end of August 2011. The municipal outdoor pool scenes at the beginning and the end of the movie were filmed at Steveston Outdoor pool in Richmond, BC. Filming occurred at the Steveston Outdoor pool during the beginning of September 2011. The Chinese Bunkhouse at the Steveston Shipyards in Richmond, BC was the location of the Wilderness Explorers cabin for Troop 133. During filming, stars Zachary Gordon and Robert Capron, were seen riding the Corkscrew at Playland at Vancouver's fair, the PNE. Capron had to wear a wig for this movie, as his hair was shaved to play the role of Young Curly in The Three Stooges, as explained in The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary book. A poster was leaked in March 2012. A teaser trailer was attached to The Three Stooges. An advance screening for the film was held on July 31, 2012.

Release/Reception/Box Office

On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the film has an approval rating of 52% based on 75 reviews and an average rating of 5.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Overly familiar and a bit too reliant on slapstick, the sitcom-like Dog Days fails to improve upon previous instalments and will likely appeal to few outside its target audience." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 54 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, the same grade as the two previous films.

Abby West of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+ and wrote "Though often self-centred and conniving, Greg remains a likable kid, and the movie entertains by pulling off over-the-top scenarios that set up digestible life lessons for youngsters." OregonLive.com praised Zachary Gordon's acting, writing, "his easy likeability and general relatability are perhaps two of the biggest keys to Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days."

Matt Mueller of OnMilwaukee gave the movie a negative review, calling it "manic, forced, predictable, scatter-brained and often times unpleasant." Mueller criticized the movie's "overstuffed screenplay" for being "very attention-deficit, cramming in numerous wacky plot elements, most of them solely existing for predictable jokes that were met in my screening with interminable silence." He wrote that "some of the storylines could've made for decent movies on their own," particularly the one where Greg joins the Boy Scouts, but that they were only brought back "when the screenplay needs another forced comic set piece or ill-fated attempt at wringing unearned emotion." Mueller disliked Greg's behaviour, writing "He's lazy and wildly selfish, taking advantage of his friend's unbridled kindness. His trip with Rowley's family ends with Greg insulting the entire clan and getting the dad arrested by the police. Later in the film, he runs up the family's bill sneaking into the country club. What part of this behaviour is charming?" The review concludes with Mueller writing, "In Dog Days' lone earnest moment, Rowley astutely explains that his parents' disappointment is worse than their yelling. In that case, I'm not angry that a movie like this can take the joys of childhood and make them so joyless and unpleasant. I'm disappointed."

Budget $22 million

Box office $77.1 million

My Review

We saw the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dog Days" and my husband and I absolutely loved it. The Wimpy Kid movies are John Hughes style movies but focus on Jr. High School instead of High School. Believe me, Jr. High School was much more difficult to survive than high school.

Jeff Kinney takes his story about a kid (Greg Heffley) trying to grow up and survive middle school, family dynamics, and relationships. This film, like the others, takes these experiences and makes them relatable and hilarious for anyone of any age.

Although it is apparent that the cast is growing up, (since this is the 3rd movie in the very popular series), I found that it really didn't matter because we relate to the issues and problems Greg is experiencing and not his physical presence. No one said anything about the Harry Potter kids getting older and the same holds for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I didn't find myself focused on the kids ages because you get lost in the laughs, and enjoyment of the film as the gags get bigger and funnier in this 3rd instalment to the popular movie series. The kids are exactly at the place their supposed to be in real life - 14 years old. For us it added to the "realness" of the story and characters portrayed.

I hope they make more of these films and continue on into High School, as these stories and films are truly honest and bonified entertainment for the whole family. They don't talk or play down to kids, they don't moralize, they don't try to get you to "see the light" as other family films do. If you allow yourself to lay back in the theatre seat and let go of yourself for 94 minutes, you will be transported back to a time we can all relate to in our lives.

Zachary Gordon is back, in excellent form, as the main character, Greg Heffley. This is a very complex character from Kinney's books and Zach Gordon deserves a lot of credit for continuing to carry these movies to new heights (no pun intended-see the ride on the Revolation which gets up to 3-4 "G's"). It has actually been a lot of fun for our family, following him as he matures in character and life. He is blossoming into a really fine actor with a big future ahead of him. One of the best things about this new movie is the relationship between his character and his father played wonderfully by Steve Zahn. We get to follow a very "real" father/son relationship in this film with all their ups and downs and emotional discourse. This is a dose of "reality" for anyone and is definitely a must see for any dad who has sons or daughters and participated in the Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Indian Guides, Indian Princess, or other father son/daughter activity. Brought back a lot of good memories for us.

In this combination of the 3rd and 4th book - DWK: The Last Straw, and DWK: Dog Days, the film makes for an enjoyable roller-coaster ride in a comical "Summer" setting. The continued trials and tribulations of the main character - Greg Heffley, are made even more hilarious and complicated when Greg 1)fakes a job at a country club to appease his father, 2) goes on vacation with his best friends family, the Jeffersons, 3)tries to further a relationship with a girl- Holly Hills, 4)has to put up with constant aggravation from his older brother Rodrick, and 5) experiences communication and relationship issues with his dad. With all these intertwined story lines, this movie will have you in "stitches". The scenes at the country club with his brother Roderick are just plain hilarious and embarrassing fun! Not much ever seems to go well for Greg, even when his best intentions are at stake, which of course, makes for fun movie entertainment. If you like honest, wholesome, non-animated, non-CG (3D) movies, then this ones a hit! For you critical people out there - this movie is not intended to be "Gone with the Wind", just good old fashioned film entertainment for the whole family, that will sweep you away from the problems of today for a moment in time. Sisters will relate, brothers will relate, and mom's and dad's will get "teary eyed" over the in's and out's of Greg's turbulent and very "real" relationship portrayed with his dad.

If you want to laugh out loud, if you want just great movie entertainment with a connected and wonderful cast, especially the lead character, Zach Gordon, then go see this, must see, movie! You won't be disappointed! 8.2/10