How to Eat Fried Worms

Bob Dolman's live-action take on Thomas Rockwell's much-cherished children's book gets off to a bad start with a grotesque animated sequence spotlighting young Billy Forrester's propensity to throw-up under almost any circumstance. But it quickly recovers once the plot kicks in—revolving around a bet between Billy (Luke Benward) and the campus bully at his new school that involves his eating 10 worms cooked in a variety of disgusting ways over the course of a day. Dolman manages to camouflage the more unappetizing elements of the story while still keeping things childishly gross enough to please an adolescent audience, and the film's message—about overcoming your fears, finding friendship in unlikely places, and empathizing with others—is solid, even if some of the individual episodes are a bit irresponsible (kids are, after all, shown exploding worms in a microwave, playing with stoves and barbecues, and breaking into a woman's house—all without either injury or consequence). Setting aside those caveats, however, this is an engaging, affectionate adaptation, old-fashioned in approach but nicely paced and boasting some charming performances by its young cast. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include an audio commentary (by director Bob Dolman and costars Luke Benward, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Alexander Gould, and Austin Rogers), an 11-minute “Movie Making Fun” featurette, seven deleted scenes with optional commentary (6 min.), a “Worm Cuisine” featurette (5 min.), a four-minute gag reel, a three-minute worm montage, the music video “Worm Guts” by the Rockin' Worms, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a winning family film.] (F. Swietek)