Sadly, the fourth Wimpy Kid movie falls way short of its predecessors, and is currently the worst movie I have seen in a theater in 2017. Part of the problem is that the charming original cast, most of whose growth has outpaced that of their literary inspiration, has been unnecessarily replaced by direct-to-video lookalikes. The book gives the characters few distinguishing characteristics, so the new cast, including Alicia Silverstone and Tom Everett Scott as replacements for Rachael Harris and Steve Zahn’s parental units, could have looked like anyone.
But the latest adventure of Greg Heffley (Jason Drucker) has way more wrong with it than its admittedly game cast. Unfortunately, author Jeff Kinney’s first screenplay credit is for this cynical, nasty movie with an ugly streak of superiority. The toilet humor is turned up to 11; we get vomit and poop gags, all from an overweight schlub dubbed Beardo (Christopher A. Coppola) by Greg. Plus, the movie does not have enough Rowley in it. Even if replacement Rowley Owen Asztalos is no Robert Capron, Greg’s bestie remains the series’ most pleasant character, but he gets left at home on this trip. Calling The Long Haul sitcom-ish is an insult to even the worst sitcoms.
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