Story
Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) is a middle child. He has a cute little brother who’s always getting him into trouble and an older brother, Rodrick (Devon Bostick), who pushes him around. Greg’s in 7th Grade and is no longer the new kid familiar to audiences of the first movie in this series. There’s a new girl in Greg’s class, Holly (Peyton List). Greg really wants to ask her out on a date, but most of his friends and Rodrick think she’s out of his league.
Rodrick keeps giving Greg a hard time until their mother (Rachael Harris) has had enough. She leaves them at home to work out their relationship rather than taking them away on a fun weekend. Their father (Steve Zahn) also bans them from having any visitors. Roderick disobeys and has a party, and Greg later covers for him.
Rodrick and Greg now have a new bond, and finally they seem to be getting along. Unfortunately, their parents find out about the party, and everything gets worse than before. Rodrick blames Greg for their punishment. But Greg is eventually able to do something for Roderick that changes everything.
Themes
Sibling rivalry; bullying
Violence
This movie has some violence. For example:
Sexual references
Sexual references in this movie include characters talking about Greg’s crush on Holly.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
This movie has some use of substances. For example:
- Greg’s parents drink wine with a meal.
- Although it looks like the kids at Rodrick’s party aren’t drinking alcohol, their activities include drinking games and other behaviour that seems to be influenced by alcohol.
Nudity and sexual activity
None of concern
Product placement
There is some product placement in this movie – for example, Apple computers.
Coarse language
This movie has some coarse language and crude humour.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules is a comedy about family relationships, especially those between siblings. You might be worried about primary school-age children imitating parts of this movie, including the teasing and bullying, the crude humour and the behaviour during the party.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include trust, honesty and the importance of family.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues such as the following:
- the difference between telling the truth and being insensitive – this comes up when Greg is rude to his grandfather after getting into trouble for lying
- how far you should go to be liked by someone – this comes up when Greg takes up bad habits to bond with Rodrick.