How to Eat Fried Worms (2006)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Bob Dolman

Writers (WGA):

Bob Dolman (screenplay)
Thomas Rockwell (novel)

Release Date:

25 August 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Tagline:

New town. New friends. New menu.

Plot:

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. |

Plot Keywords:

New School | Bully | School | Underdog | Contest

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

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

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild bullying and some crude humor.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:(Banned) | USA:PG (certificate #42231) | Singapore:PG | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-7 | Australia:PG | Germany:6 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Gran Via

Trivia:

Hallie Kate Eisenberg had to learn archery before filming began.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

Adam: Oh, hi Uncle Ed.
Uncle Ed: What's this?
Adam: I was just givin' you a hand in here.
Uncle Ed: Last time you tried to give me a hand, you almost chopped your thumb off!

Movie Connections:

Features Dance Dance Revolution (1998) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Move Your Feet

Fried Worms is delicious!

It's a strange feeling to sit alone in a theater occupied by parents and their rollicking kids. I felt like instead of a movie ticket, I should have been given a NAMBLA membership.

Based upon Thomas Rockwell's respected Book, How To Eat Fried Worms starts like any children's story: moving to a new town. The new kid, fifth grader Billy Forrester was once popular, but has to start anew. Making friends is never easy, especially when the only prospect is Poindexter Adam. Or Erica, who at 4 1/2 feet, is a giant.

Further complicating things is Joe the bully. His freckled face and sleeveless shirts are daunting. He antagonizes kids with the Death Ring: a Crackerjack ring that is rumored to kill you if you're punched with it. But not immediately. No, the death ring unleashes a poison that kills you in the eight grade.

Joe and his axis of evil welcome Billy by smuggling a handful of slimy worms into his thermos. Once discovered, Billy plays it cool, swearing that he eats worms all the time. Then he throws them at Joe's face. Ewww! To win them over, Billy reluctantly bets that he can eat 10 worms. Fried, boiled, marinated in hot sauce, squashed and spread on a peanut butter sandwich. Each meal is dubbed an exotic name like the "Radioactive Slime Delight," in which the kids finally live out their dream of microwaving a living organism.

If you've ever met me, you'll know that I have an uncontrollably hearty laugh. I felt like a creep erupting at a toddler whining that his "dilly dick" hurts. But Fried Worms is wonderfully disgusting. Like a G-rated Farrelly brothers film, it is both vomitous and delightful.

Writer/director Bob Dolman is also a savvy storyteller. To raise the stakes the worms must be consumed by 7 pm. In addition Billy holds a dark secret: he has an ultra-sensitive stomach.

Dolman also has a keen sense of perspective. With such accuracy, he draws on children's insecurities and tendency to exaggerate mundane dilemmas.

If you were to hyperbolize this movie the way kids do their quandaries, you will see that it is essentially about war. Freedom-fighter and freedom-hater use pubescent boys as pawns in proxy wars, only to learn a valuable lesson in unity. International leaders can learn a thing or two about global peacekeeping from Fried Worms.

At the end of the film, I was comforted when two chaperoning mothers behind me, looked at each other with befuddlement and agreed, "That was a great movie." Great, now I won't have to register myself in any lawful databases.