Diary of a Wimpy Kid

...it's nimble, bright and funny. It doesn't dumb down. It doesn't patronize. It knows something about human nature. It isn't as good as A Christmas Story, as few movies are, but it deserves a place in the same sentence.

—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times

...a delightful movie...

—Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly

...a spry, fluffy comedy...

—Lael Lowenstein Variety

...a likable movie for kids that will make adults chuckle as well because of the movie's key ingredient -- wit.

—Kirk Honeycutt Hollywood Reporter

...full of insightful comedy...

—Rennie Dyball People

...doesn't come across as much more than a pleasant and mostly harmless diversion, its lessons about telling the truth and being who you are having long since wandered into the realm of cliché.

—Christopher Null filmcritic.com

...an above-average and sometimes surprising kid movie based on the first of a popular series of cartoon books by Jeff Kinney.

—Lou Lumenick New York Post

...sweet and funny at either end, but in between, it sags with endless repetition of gross bodily functions and Greg's torment at the hands of larger, angrier, or more popular kids...

—Ella Taylor LA Weekly

...sweet and funny at either end, but in between, it sags with endless repetition of gross bodily functions and Greg's torment at the hands of larger, angrier, or more popular kids...

—Ella Taylor Village Voice

There's something silly-sweet about this movie. It avoids talking down to kids or being didactic, while still projecting an overall wholesomeness.

—Claudia Puig USA Today

...a minor embarrassing misfire.

—Nick Schager Slant Magazine

Kids may love the movie, and even kids who love the books may like it. For me, though, an astonishing percentage of the books' appeal has vanished.

—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune

Kids may love the movie, and even kids who love the books may like it. For me, though, an astonishing percentage of the books' appeal has vanished.

—Michael Phillips Los Angeles Times

There is nothing wrong with the story itself, but the tone is grating and the pacing sluggish. Episodes that might be howlingly funny on the page turn weirdly gross and sadistic on screen, though young viewers are unlikely to be upset or offended by the occasional bout of bullying or nose picking. They are more likely to be bored, which is much worse.

—A. O. Scott New York Times

...the film adaptation is cartoony, both literally and figuratively.

—Tasha Robinson Onion AV Club