How to Eat Fried Worms (2006)

During the first day of his new school year, a fifth grade boy squares off against a bully and winds up accepting a dare that could change the balance of power within the class.

Director:

Bob Dolman

Writers:

Bob Dolman (screenplay), Thomas Rockwell (novel)

Stars:

Luke Benward, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Adam Hicks

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Benward	...	Billy
Hallie Kate Eisenberg	...	Erika
Adam Hicks	...	Joe
Austin Rogers	...	Adam
Alexander Gould	...	Twitch
Ryan Malgarini	...	Benjy
Philip Bolden	...	Bradley (as Philip Daniel Bolden)
Clint Howard	...	Uncle Ed
Ty Panitz	...	Woody
James Rebhorn	...	Boiler Head
Tom Cavanagh	...	Dad
Kimberly Williams-Paisley	...	Mom
Andrew Gillingham	...	Techno Mouth
Blake Garrett	...	Plug
Alexander Agate	...	Donny

Storyline

The Forrester family - father Mitch Forrester, mother Helen Forrester, their pre-teen son Billy Forrester and their pre-school son Woody Forrester - have just moved to a new town where Mitch is starting a new job. Both Mitch and Billy are worried about fitting into their new environment. It's worse for Billy as Woody, who is not worried about the move, is at that stage in his life where everything is simple and easy. Billy's first day in the fifth grade at his new school does not go well when he gets into an altercation with the class bullies, led by Joe Guire. The altercation involves worms and Billy stating that he eats worms all the time, which leads to all the bullies calling him "Wormboy". As such, Joe bets Billy that he can't eat ten worms (without vomiting), the bet to take place this upcoming Saturday, with the last worm to be consumed by 7pm. Despite having a notoriously weak stomach, Billy takes him up on the bet. As the bet starts, the only classmate on Billy's side is ...

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Plot Keywords:

school | new school | boy | bully | bet | 

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Taglines:

Ein Filmvergnügen für Kinder zum Anbeißen (A film pleasure for children to bite)

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild bullying and some crude humor

Details

Official Sites:

New Line Cinema [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

A skacok meg a kukacok

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$4,003,537 (USA) (25 August 2006)

Gross:

$13,022,756 (USA) (6 October 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gran Via, New Line Cinema, Walden Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hallie Kate Eisenberg had to learn archery before filming began.

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Goofs

After worm explodes in microwave, its guts splatter on the glass, and then disappear in next shot.

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Quotes

Donny: His mind told his vomit to stay inside his stomach.
Joe: Impossible.
Plug: Yeah, puke has a mind of it's own.

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Crazy Credits

Silent quote from trailer used: "No worms were harmed in the making of this film." (Shows worm blowing up in microwave.) "Not even this one"

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Connections

Spoofs Emeril Live (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Jungle Boogie"
Written by Robert Kool Bell (as Robert Bell), Ronald Bell, Donald Boyce, George Funky Brown (as George Brown),
Robert Mickens, Claydes Smith, Dennis D.T. Thomas (as Dennis Thomas) and Richard Westfield
Performed by Kool & The Gang
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Good Family Film - with slime!

It started out slow after an excellent animated intro, as the director had a bunch of characters and school setting to develop. Once the bet is on, though, the movie picks up the pace as it's a race against time to see if a certain number of worms can be eaten by 7 pm. We had a good opportunity on the way home to discuss some things with our son: bullies, helping others, mind over matter when you don't want to do something.

Of special note is the girl who played Erica (Erk): Hallie Kate Eisenberg. The director kinda sneaks her in unexpectedly, and when she is on-screen she is captivating. She's one of those "Hey, she looks familiar" faces, and then I remembered that she was the little girl that Pepsi featured about 8 years ago. She was also in "Paulie", that movie about the parrot who tries to find his way home.

Ms. Eisenberg made many TV and movie appearances in '99-00, but then was not seen much for the next few years. She's now 14 and is growing up to be a beautiful woman. Her smile really warms up the screen. If she can get some more good roles she could have as good a career (or better?) than Haley Joel Osment, another three named kid actor, but hopefully without some of the problems that Osment has been in lately.

Anywhozitz, according to my 8 y.o. son, who just finished reading the story, the film did not seem to follow the book all that well, but was entertaining none the less. The ending of the film seemed like a big setup for some sequels (How to Eat Boiled Slugs? Escargot Kid's Style?), which might not be such a bad thing. It was nice to take the family to a movie and not have to worry about language, violence or sex scenes.

One other good aspect of the movie was the respect/fear engendered by the principal Mr. Burdock (Boilerplate). Movies nowadays tend to show adult authority figures as buffoons. While he has one particular goofy scene, he ruled the school with a firm hand. It was also nice to see Andrea Martin getting some work.