Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer (2011)

I think you and I both know where this review is going. I grew up with the Judy Moody books by Megan McDonald. I was around eight or nine when the bulk of them came out, and when you are that age, those books are the single greatest thing ever made. My brother is the same way, falling into that age right now with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Those books are good too. The only difference between the Diary of a Wimpy Kid films and Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer is that the former is good, fun, entertaining, and decently well-made, and while the latter is studio hashed, devoid, brutal trash. So yeah, I’m not a huge fan of this film. Starring the pleasantly (and with the right training, could actually become a very good actress) spunky Jordana Beatty as third grader Judy Moody, the film is one that not even one Judy’s age would enjoy. Seriously. My brother, who is in 4th grade (1 year really doesn’t make a difference), proclaimed this film to be the worst of the year. It nearly brought me to tears. I had never been so proud of him. But by now I should probably be explaining the plot of the film. Judy Moody hates summers, because she never has any fun. So she plans, with her three friends in the ‘toad pee’ club (I am completely serious), to have the most-and I quote-“thrill-a-delic” summer ever. But she is devastated when two of those friends leave for the summer (kid actors who apparently have very good agents, not letting themselves be in the full film), and she is forced to spend the summer, trying to have fun with her Aunt Opal (Heather Graham, what the heck happened?) and her brother Stink, who is a much better character in the comics. They have to help Judy have the best summer ever by collecting more “Thrill-points” than any of her friends, which she does by trying to catch Bigfoot (I’m writing this during the season 2 premier of The Walking Dead, a very serious and horrific and brilliant show, and I’m smiling like nobody’s business listening to myself work over the plot synopsis). I am 100% serious. But you can make a good, funny, and wonderful film out of an insane premise (Think about it-does the plot of Toy Story 2 make much sense to a rational human being either?), but here, the laziness just gets worse. There are no other gags in the film other than bathroom humor and physical comedy, of the lowest common denominator. Like-less than Adam Sandler films. And you all know how much I hate some Adam Sandler films. The direction is unnaturally bland, by the director of such epics as Aliens in the Attic, and the acting is usually atrocious. Graham isn’t terrible and if Beatty plays her cards right, things could work out for her, but everyone else is completely and utterly awful. That’s what this film is. Completely and utterly awful. It’s worse than Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil. It is easily one of the worst flicks of the year.
1/10