The Food Network’s attempt to lure a younger demographic is not appetizing.

Theatrical Release Date: 08/25/2006
Director: Bob Dolman
Cast: Luke Benward, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Adam Hicks

Ever wonder what happened to that little curly-haired girl from the Pepsi commercials? No? Me neither. But she’s now moved on to feature length films and is one of the kids in “How to Eat Fried Worms”.

Based on a popular kids book, the film is about a boy who moves to a new town and in an attempt to fit in, accepts a bet to eat 10 worms in a day.

Since it was in HD on of my movie channels, I gave this one a shot and I have to admit it was kind of fun.

As it’s a kids film, I’m not surprised by the predictability and overly simplistic plot turns. Heck, I’m wondering why in the h-e-double hockey sticks I’m even reviewing it. But it’s a slow day on the couch so I figured, why not?

The performances are okay, none of the kids shows all that much potential though the bully reminds me of a similarly red-haired freckled bully from one of my favorite movies, “Rad” … so it’s got that going for it, which is nice.

There are some fun cameos, with the parents of the protagonist being played by Thomas Cavanagh and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and the always-great Clint Howard adding his own special charm as the owner of a local restaurant.

Other than that, not much to say really. I’m sorry to say that apparently they didn’t harm any worms in the process of filming, which reinforces the idea that animal rights groups need to find hobby, like crocheting, stamp collecting, or shooting themselves in the foot so we can recognize them from the limp.

I’m giving “How to Eat Fried Worms” a 3 out of 5. It’s standard kids fare, safe enough to use as a babysitter for your kids when you don’t have the time or energy to put up with their crap. And really, isn’t that what these films are for?