Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Long Haul (PG)

Family matters matter in the fourth installment of the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series, based on the hugely popular books by Jeff Kinney.
UNLUCKY: Jason Drucker in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: PA Photo/Twentieth Century Fox.UNLUCKY: Jason Drucker in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: PA Photo/Twentieth Century Fox.
UNLUCKY: Jason Drucker in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: PA Photo/Twentieth Century Fox.

The cast of David Bowers’ pedestrian road movie may have changed for this perky franchise reboot, but the reliance on toilet humour for easy laughs apparently never grows old.

Director Bowers, helming his third picture in a row, makes heavy work of preposterous interludes such as the central character taking a dip in a hot tub full of cheesy snacks and emerging bright orange. This unfortunate soul is 12-year-old Greg Heffley (Jason Drucker) who is on a family road trip to his grandmother’s 90th birthday. “This is an unplugged road trip: no phones, no iPads, no internet,” explains his mother Susan (Alicia Silverstone) as she collects mobiles from Greg, her husband Frank (Tom Everett Scott), eldest son Rodrick (Charlie Wright) and youngest Manny (Wyatt and Dylan Walters).

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Following their trusty SatNav, the Heffleys careen from one mishap to the next. As the title suggests, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul is a slog and there are lags between half-hearted giggles, but Drucker brings likability to his perpetually unlucky lad, while Silverstone injects her well-intentioned yet naive mom with plentiful pep.

On general release.