Critic Reviews

• James Berardinelli, ReelViews

  ...Isn't about or for anyone past puberty.

• Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

  It's actually kind of disgusting and gross, and I'm sure that's the point, but I don't see the entertainment value in watching a kid eat one worm after another, after another, after another.

• Susan Walker, Toronto Star

  This is a story that could have gone way too far in the direction of the touching tale illustrating how kids overcome their fear of being ridiculed -- but instead maintains a buoyant irreverence.

• Claudia Puig, USA Today

  Worms has its share of kid-friendly gross-outs but is actually a sweet-natured look at standing up to bullies.

• Tom Keogh, Seattle Times

  Take the kids to see How to Eat Fried Worms, but hold off on forking over the usual princely sum at the concession stand.

• Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

  It's a pleasant and well-intentioned end of summer diversion that doesn't possess the imagination-stoking qualities of a premier children's movie.

• Jane Boursaw, Common Sense Media

  A gross-out movie with a sweet story.

• Shirley Sealy, Film Journal International

  [The actors are] all believably mischievous--and, when the need arises, they're also convincingly courageous in taking a moral stand.

• Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile

  With its universal themes about fitting in, How To Eat Fried Worms is an endearing family film guaranteed to provide a wriggling good time. While the premise has a certain gross-out factor which will delight eleven year old boys, the script is clever, and

• Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

  not particularly original or effective

• Linda Cook, Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

  "How to Eat Fried Worms" is a tasty little treat for grade-school kids.

• Camerin Courtney, Christianity Today

  Throughout this fifth-grade Fear Factor, there are scattered lessons on the ills of bullying, the benefit of being true to yourself, the joy of true friendship. But really, what boy is going to remember a moral when there's an exploding worm?

• Daniel M. Kimmel, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

  This is a movie for kids in the 8-12 range who see it as something that reflects their own lives. You may not care about How to Eat Fried Worms, but your kids will.

• David Cornelius, eFilmCritic.com

  Yes, the movie can be outstandingly irritating. But it's also a lot of fun, with keen instincts on kids' love for the gross-out.

• Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

  One of the most amateurish essays in excruciating tedium I've encountered in a year that's hardly lacked for tedium.

• Pete Vonder Haar, Film Threat

  ...The direction is lackluster, the child actors - with the exception of Eisenberg - are pretty dismal, and the whole thing is about 15 minutes too long.

• Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

  The lessons about bullying and standing up for yourself aren't forced too strongly, giving How to Eat Fried Worms the same appeal as the best Little Rascals shorts.

Read all 17 critic reviews