Based on Jeff Kinney's bestselling illustrated teen fiction series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a moderate kids' comedy, starring Zachary Gordon as Greg, a nerdy kid obsessed with making it out of the "unpopular" ghetto. He is horrified when he sees his fat best friend, whom he had comfortably assumed was an even bigger loser, suddenly blossoming into a brilliant and much-loved class clown. It's an interesting idea, deserving of a more interesting treatment, but this is just dopey and patronising. What is even more dispiriting is to see Steve Zahn, once a force to be reckoned with in independent pictures, playing the bland role of Greg's dad.