As the new kid at school Billy Forrester (Luke Benward) gets picked on mercilessly. Although lanky Erika (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) takes an instant shine to him, Billy is foolishly reluctant to make friends with a girl so unnaturally tall for her age other kids call her "Erk." When a gang of bullies mockingly imply Billy eats worms he stands up to them by saying, sure, he loves eating the little wrigglies: grilled, boiled and especially fried. Unfortunately Billy's defiance ends up making lead bully Joe (Adam Hicks) insecure about his position as the most feared kid in school. So Joe nicknames him 'Worm Boy.' He also challenges Billy to eat ten worms in a single day, cooked in a variety of ways. If Billy barfs up one worm he will have to roam the school halls with worms in his pants.
Thomas Rockwell's 1973 novel is a genuine children's classic that is smart and insightful. Not on worm-eating so much, although it features a handful of recipes for those so inclined. More on such subjects as bullying, insecurity and the universal childhood desire to fit in. Which makes it all the more peculiar why the book has long been the target of censors and frequently on the American Library Association's list of contentious titles for its supposedly vulgar content. Of course any smart person knows kids love gross stuff. Rockwell's genius was to expand that fascination into a disarmingly wise, nuanced and generous spirited fable about coping with common childhood anxieties. Back in the mid-Eighties his book was adapted for the small screen as an animated special as part of the CBS Storybreak series of kid lit-based cartoons. This live action version was co-produced by New Line and good old Walden Media, purveyors of outstanding children's literary adaptations from Bridge to Terabithia (2007) to The Water Horse (2007) not to mention the Narnia movies. Writer-director Bob Dolman, in his second film following the Goldie Hawn-Susan Sarandon comedy The Banger Sisters (2002), previously penned both Willow (1988) and the insufferable Far and Away (1992) for Ron Howard.
With colourful animated sequences handled by Genndy Tartakovsky and a jaunty score by the ever-reliable Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, How to Eat Fried Worms the movie comes across like a precursor to the hugely popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid films although nostalgists might discern a few similarities with Disney's live action output from the mid-to-late Seventies. Styled very much like a live action cartoon, the broad humour plays to the grade school set but Rockwell's sharp observations on why kids lash out at their peers to cope with their own insecurity elevates the film above the shrill obnoxiousness of something like, say, Problem Child (1989) or Fun Size (2012). Much about the film rings true. Dolman ably captures the queasy paranoia of a kid on his first day at school certain everyone is out to prank and humiliate him but also doesn't let Billy off the hook. Our hero projects his own feelings of awkwardness onto his uninhibited little brother Woody (Ty Panitz) and risks wrecking a promising friendship with Erika out of mere embarrassment much the same, as we discover, Joe acts out because he is bullied by his older brother.
That Billy remains engaging in spite of his flaws is down not just to smart writing but the empathetic performance delivered by Luke Benward, who grew up fast to become a teen heartthrob in things like Disney's Girl vs. Monster (2012). The performances of the young cast are strong across the board including Hallie Kate Eisenberg, sister of Jesse Eisenberg and a seasoned child actor since the excellent Paulie (1998), and another future Disney star Adam Hicks. Unfortunately after a strong start the film loses momentum. There is an amusing scene where the kids accidentally feed their principal (James Rebhorn) an omelette stuffed with worms after which things lapse into an endless worm-scoffing escapade. An initially clever parallel drawn between Billy's story and his father's (Tom Cavanaugh, currently on DC's superhero TV series The Flash) problems at work is allowed to lapse while the film sidelines Erika and Woody, two characters crucial to his emotional arc. Dolman too often loses sight of the original themes for the sake of more slapstick. Still, the more variations on fried worms Billy eats the more he grows in confidence and gains the respect from other boys under Joe's thumb. The closing message about the value of empathy over one-upmanship is a welcome one. Worm gastronauts can savour such delights as egg fried worms, hot and spicy worms, worms in a rich hollondaise sauce, peanut butter and jam worms, green worms blended in with spinach and broccoli and microwave splattered worms. Mmm. Relax folks, the film ends with the statement: "No worms were harmed in the making of this movie."
