Humor and humility: The worms crawl in, the laughs pour out
When the bully and the new kid face off, life lessons emerge amid the levity.
By KELSEY GEMMILL, Times X-Team
Published August 24, 2006
Do you like movies with laugh-out-loud scenes and gross-out humor? If so, then be sure to check out How to Eat Fried Worms.
The movie, based on the book of the same title, is a coming-of-age tale packed full of humor and happiness. Laughs from people of all ages could be heard throughout the theater.
Billy Forrester (Luke Benward) is a fifth-grader who moves to a new town with his family. Billy, who has a weak stomach and isn't happy about the move, is also sick of his little brother Woody (Ty Panitz) getting all of the attention.
On his first day of school, Billy is confronted by Joe Guire (Adam Hicks), the class bully. After Joe fills Billy's thermos with worms, Billy gets the nickname Worm Boy.
To earn the respect of his new classmates, Billy agrees to a bet in which he must eat 10 worms, prepared any way Joe wants, in one day.
Billy's dad (Thomas Cavanagh) worries that Billy isn't making any friends and tries to give Billy advice. But then Billy is surprised to learn that even his dad is having a hard time making friends.
As the pressure builds to win the bet, Billy finds a friend in Erika (Hallie Kate Eisenberg), who gets bullied by Joe about her height. Erika tells Billy not to let anyone ridicule him and to remember that it is who you are inside that matters most.
This tale may be a bit gross - Billy has to eat everything from fried worms to worm milkshakes (don't worry, no worms were really harmed in the making of the movie) - but it holds many lessons for moviegoers of all ages. Many kids will be able to relate to some of the bullying that Billy must endure and will be able to learn the right thing to do.
I recommend this movie for all ages and I am sure that you will love it as much as I did.
Kelsey Gemmill, 11, is in sixth grade at Williams Middle Magnet School in Tampa and is a member of the 2006-07 X-Team, a group of bay area students who write for the weekly Xpress page.
How to Eat Fried Worms
Grade: B+
Director: Bob Dolman
Cast: Luke Benward, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Adam Hicks, Austin Rogers, Ty Panitz, Thomas Cavanagh, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, James Rebhorn, Clint Howard
