Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball is a 2023 American live-action/animated comedy film directed by David Bowers from a screenplay by Wallace Wolodarsky. It stars Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn, Connor Fielding, Peyton List and Robert Capron. It is the fifth and final instalment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series and is a combination of an adaption of the fourteenth book in the series and an original story. Mostly focusing on the original story while also borrowing elements from the book.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball is considered a cult following by fans of the series, often calling it "a long awaited reunion".

Plot
While still in college and dating Holly Hills (Peyton List), Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) finds himself in a conflicted situation about whether or not he's happy with his life or not, on one hand he knows that he's got a girlfriend and will probably start a family in the future, but on the other hand, he's insecure about leaving his family behind. Going back to his home in Plainview with his girlfriend for spring break, Greg and Rodrick (Devon Bostick) find some various objects from their childhood, the most notable object being a flower painting that Greg did for his mom, Susan (Rachael Harris), and decides to keep it with him to cherish it. There's a few other objects he decides to keep and plans to sell the rest on ebay for a reasonable price.

When Greg's great aunt Reba dies and leaves the family a will, Manny (Connor Fielding) is excited about receiving a part of inheritance money. After a family meeting, Susan chooses to spend the money on expanding their house's kitchen. To prepare for the construction, Frank (Steve Zahn) tries to teach Greg how to disable the air conditioning system in the attic carefully without injuring himself. However Greg fails to disable it properly but is only just lucky. He and Rodrick are asked to paint around the hot tub they just recently installed a few months ago and they discover a wasp's nest, agreeing to steer clear from that area.

When Rodrick gets a call from his boys in Loded Diaper saying that they need him to fix up a few things for them, he leaves Greg to finish off the gutters. While cleaning the gutters, the ladder falls and Greg is stuck on the roof until he climbs in through the bathroom window, interrupting Frank in the shower. When it comes to the preparation for the construction, Susan hires professional workers to take apart the wall, Rowley Jefferson (Robert Capron) being in this group of professional workers.

While talking to Rowley, Greg learns that he got Zoo-Wee Mama in the local papers and is waiting for a call from the Big Leagues to syndicate the strip. He tells him that he pretty much got a lucky break, however he too is also scared about where he's going to go in life. The whole time the construction goes on, Greg and Rowley start looking back on the past and how much trouble they got themselves into when they were in Middle School. As the construction nearly finishes, one thing goes wrong, which involves the wasp nest. Using a crane to carefully remove the hot tub, the nest which is intact between the deck and the tub, breaks in half slowly, allowing the wasps to break free and swarm around the place.

Everyone manages to escape the back yard except for Greg and Rowley, with Rowley getting caught in the fence wiring and breaking his leg. However the wasps don't go for them, they go for the guy in the crane. The guy in the crane shuts both doors but forgets about the back window and ends up shaking his hands all over the place, and he ends up hitting the lever on the arm, causing the arm to swing the other direction and hit the house. The crane topples over with the guy managing to escape from the crane. Running down the road as fast as he can.

Observing the damage, Susan realises that the cost of repairing the house will pretty much go over the inheritance money and the lower school district funding won't be enough to cover the damage. She decides that the best option is to move out of the neighbourhood. After getting a listing, they see that the new house is pretty much better than the old one, with an indoor pool, a big kitchen, and stuff like that. Susan, Frank and Manny are all on board with the idea of moving in. Greg and Rodrick share a conversation that night about how quick of a change that was. During said conversation, Greg tells Rodrick that he's unsure about this and that he didn't think that something this crazy would happen, going into detail about how he's been feeling lately about his life and how conflicted he is. Rodrick basically reminds him that life is unpredictable, but it's better when you take it with a grain of salt, something that he's been doing for most of his life.

In June for summer break, Greg finally graduates from college along with Holly. On a date with her, he describes this whole experience with the house as like "getting a broken arm and never being able to fix it", because of how he basically grew up in that house, and how he's worried that someone might demolish that house or fix it and make it into a night club. Holly reminds him that there's plenty of houses in the world and that it can't just be about the one you're still clinging to.

After the unpacking is basically finished, the family prepares for the moving away party. As Greg is setting up the decorations, Rowley arrives and tells Greg that he got the call and that Zoo-Wee Mama is going into syndication, and that he too, is leaving Plainview to go to Boston. He gives Greg a collage of some of the fun things they did together over the years, which Greg hugs him and thanks him for being his best friend, with tears rolling down both of their eyes. With Loded Diaper playing at the party, that attracts a mob in the neighbourhood, and a group from a nearby birthday party.

A year passes by and Greg looks at the foundations for the new house in the old neighbourhood, taking one last look at the foundations he says to himself, "Zoo-Wee Mama" and walks down the road, with the final shot of film, involving him, morphing into his cartoon self and the screen fading to black.

Cast

 * Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley
 * Steve Zahn as Frank Heffley, Greg's father
 * Robert Capron as Rowley Jefferson, Greg's best friend
 * Devon Bostick as Rodrick Heffley, Greg's older brother
 * Rachael Harris as Susan Heffley, Greg's mother
 * Peyton List as Holly Hills, Greg's girlfriend
 * Connor Fielding as Manny Heffley, Greg's younger brother

Production
Production on the film began in 2021 with Jeff Kinney writing a treatment for the plot of the film, almost entirely based off of the original book. He realised that it would be fitting if the original cast from the first three films were to reprise their roles in order to achieve a sense of finality to the film series.

Filming began in Vancouver and wrapped up on August 22nd 2022.

Critical Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 73% based on 87 reviews and an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A coming age of story, that actually outdoes the previous instalments in terms of story". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 71 out of 100, indicating "average to positive reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.