Movie review: 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days'

What's new in this installment of Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" movies is Greg Heffley's disconnect from his long-suffering dad, played with commitment and comic skill by Steve Zahn. Dad wants his boys to be on a par with a jerk-jock neighbor's kids. Greg (Zachary Gordon, above right) only wants to play video games and impress Holly (Peyton List), and the lengths he goes to lead to his biggest mistakes. But that's what Kinney's books and these movies manage to teach, in between the exaggerated misadventures of childhood. Make mistakes, but own up to them. "Dog Days" is not the best of the "Wimpys," but Devon Bostick is still a laugh a minute as Rodrick, and for an hour the laughs come quick and sure -- slapstick stuff, mostly. And for parents and their tweens, that's enough to keep this franchise from lagging. (Rating: PG.)

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYS two out of four stars