How to Eat Fried Worms
New Line Cinema | Release Date: August 25, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
13
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirschling
Happily, after a cartoon opening-credits sequence that overdoes it on the barf, Worms goes light (but not too light) on the gore and the goo. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Here's hoping its old-fashioned sensibility appeals to contemporary kids, because we could certainly use more movies as smart and sweet as this one. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
While changes have been made to the book in the interest of compressing the story and emphasizing certain life lessons, the 33-year-old premise is still perfectly in sync with the sensibilities of preteen boys everywhere. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Worms is one of those rare kiddie flicks that successfully adopt a child’s-eye view of the world, where nothing is more important than saving face on the playground and where parents are as distant and clueless as storybook giants. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
The movie gathers steam as these little terrors up the ante with each new gross-out recipe. Former child star Hallie Kate Eisenberg, blooming into a beautifully poised young woman, grounds the film as Benward's loyal supporter. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
There's no great art to Fried Worms' simple, family-friendly style and obvious clichés, but there's a refreshing lack of x-treme attitude, slapstick violence, and all the other things that make most kids' movies feel like they were generated by a marketing committee. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerManny Lewis
The film is genuinely good-natured and kids -- particularly the ones who actually do this sort of stuff to worms -- will enjoy it and may even take the movie's loose morals to heart. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The worms, the real stars of the film, are fairly impressive, looming large, plump and slimy as they are boiled, fried, served with sauce and added to omelettes and smoothies. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
True to form, How to Eat Fried Worms forgoes flatulence jokes for positive examples. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
How to Eat Fried Worms belongs to a vanishing breed - live action family films. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Boys will be happy at the mild grossness; parents will tolerate anything that entertains their hyperkinetic boys; and sisters will agree with the film's lone girl. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Nicely directed, the film version proves refreshingly free of the customary blights that affect most modern children's movies, notably adult condescension. But, man, is it mean. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
It's the worm set pieces that rule, as our hero must carry out a dare to eat ten worms ten ways between sunup and sundown. Read full review
50
VarietyLael Loewenstein
A decidedly old-fashioned family film that may prove too quaint for modern audiences. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleToddy Burton
The sweetness of spirit and rapidly moving story will keep parents entertained while blessing the kids with a mildly raunchy good time. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
This is a picture in which the barf scenes standard in the usual crude youth comedies aren't gratuitous. They're logical climaxes. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Good message, mediocre movie. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
The star is Luke Benward, a dead ringer for the young Kurt Russell. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
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. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The movie has a pleasing skinned-knee innocence that makes you wish everything else about it wasn't so shoddy. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
How to Eat Fried Worms arrives just in time to placate preteen boys who resent being unable to see the frankly more adult though equally immature "Snakes on a Plane." Read full review
50
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
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. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoanne Kaufman
After the first bit of fish bait is consumed, actually even before, this one-trick movie is a tough slog.
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