- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is a 2012 American comedy film directed by David Bowers from a screenplay by Wallace Wolodarsky and Maya Forbes. It stars Zachary Gordon and Steve Zahn. Robert Capron, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris, Peyton List, Grayson Russell, and Karan Brar also have prominent roles. It is the third installment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series. It was released by 20th Century Fox on August 3, grossing $77 million in the box office, and like its predecessors, it received mixed reviews.
The film is based on the third and fourth books of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series, The Last Straw and Dog Days, respectively. The "Holly Hills" and "Spag Union" portions of it are featured in the third book, while much of the rest is based on the fourth book.
The film is also the last in the series to feature the original cast members, as many of the cast (such as Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, and Devon Bostick) outgrew their roles and new actors were cast for the next installment, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, which was released on May 19, 2017.
Plot[]
The Heffleys visit the local pool, where they run into Lenwood Heath, a reformed delinquent friend of Rodrick's who works as a lifeguard. He attends Spag Union, a strict disciplinarian military school that begins at the eighth grade. Frank notes that Greg is about to enter eighth grade and considers signing him up.
After learning that Greg spent his entire first day of summer vacation playing video games, Frank dismantles the television set. Susan urges Frank to spend more time with him. Frank takes him fishing and to an American Civil War reenactment, but his incompetence annoys Frank.
Rowley invites Greg to the local country club. Initially reluctant, he joins Rowley as a guest after learning that his crush, Holly Hills, teaches tennis there. Frank surprises Greg with an unpaid summer internship at his office, hoping they can bond. Disliking the idea, Greg lies about getting a job at the country club, to Frank and Susan's delight. They give him a starter cell phone called a "Ladybug" that only allows him to call home or 911.
Rowley invites Greg on a family trip to a rented beach house near the boardwalk. Greg becomes increasingly uneasy with the Jeffersons' eccentric lifestyle and secretly uses Rowley's father Robert's laptop to email Susan to get himself out of the trip. The Jeffersons confront him after he accidentally sends the email to everyone on Robert's contact list. He desperately tries to call home using his new phone, but accidentally calls 911, leading to Robert almost getting arrested when he absentmindedly opens the door with a knife in his hand. Greg is sent home early, and Frank starts to believe that Rowley is a bad influence.
A few days later, Rowley informs Greg that he is no longer allowed to invite him to the country club, but he constantly sneaks in by impersonating members. After Rodrick learns that Holly's older sister, Heather, whom he has a crush on, also works there, he asks Greg to help him sneak in. Greg reconciles with Rowley and gets Löded Diper a gig for Heather's upcoming sweet sixteen, to Rodrick's delight. During another country club visit, Robert confronts Frank and Greg over the latter's purchase of two hundred and sixty dollars' worth of smoothies. Frank mentions that Greg "works" there, but the manager denies this. Learning the truth of Greg's deception, Frank expresses his disappointment with him. Shortly after, Rodrick reveals to him that a Spag Union disc has been mailed to them, to his horror.
Rodrick urges Greg to go on the "Wilderness Weekend" camping trip with his classmates to impress Frank. During it, Fregley tells a scary story about a muddy hand. Spooked, Greg strikes Frank's hand with a mallet and admits his guilt over constantly messing up. The next day, after overhearing Frank's boss, Stan Warren, insult him over his lack of camping skills, Greg sets a trap with his friends and sneaks into Stan's tent, where he discovers that their troop has been cheating by using household appliances. Stan discovers Greg and insults him, but Frank chastises Stan for faking his camping skills. He runs into Greg's trap, humiliating himself. At a motel on the way home, Frank confesses he never liked camping and decides not to send Greg to Spag Union, to his surprise and delight. He also talks to him about learning from mistakes and taking responsibility, making them both realize they are more alike than they thought.
At Heather's sweet sixteen a few days later, Löded Diper performs a heavy metal cover of "Baby" with Rodrick on lead vocals to try and serenade her. The performance goes awry when he accidentally knocks over a huge ice bust of Heather. She attempts to assault him with a microphone stand but smashes a chocolate fountain with it after Rodrick dodges the melee, ending the party in disaster, though Holly enjoys it, and she and Greg become a couple and spend the rest of their summer together with Rowley and the rest of the Heffleys.
Cast[]
- Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley, the protagonist.
- 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 crush and eventual girlfriend.
- Grayson Russell as Fregley, a weird friend of Greg's.
- Karan Brar as Chirag Gupta, one of Greg's friends.
- Bryce Hodgson as Ben, one of Rodrick’s friends.
- Laine MacNeil as Patty Farrell, Greg's arch-enemy.
- Melissa Roxburgh as Heather Hills, Holly's older sister and Rodrick's crush. Roxburgh previously played Rachel Lewis, one of the girls at Rodrick's party in the second film.
- Connor and Owen Fielding as Manny Heffley, Greg's younger brother.
- Alfred E. Humphreys as Robert Jefferson, Rowley's father who dislikes Greg. This was Humphreys’ final film role before his death in 2018.
- Bronwen Smith as Mrs. Jefferson, Rowley's mother and wife of Robert.
- Terence Kelly as Grandpa Heffley, Susan's father-in-law, Frank's father, and Greg, Rodrick, and Manny's paternal grandfather.
- Oliver as Sweetie, the Heffleys’ pet dog.
- Tom Stevens as Lenwood Heath, an old friend of Rodrick and a lifeguard in the local pool.
- Philip Maurice Hayes as Stan Warren, Frank's boss.
- Latonya Williams as Amy, a receptionist at the Plainview Heights country club.
- Nicole Fraissinet as Julie, another receptionist at the Plainview Heights country club whom Greg introduces himself to as Roland Gropper.
- John Shaw as Mr. Draybick, a history teacher at Greg's school.
- Andrew McNee as Coach Malone, Greg's gym teacher.
- Dalila Bela as Taylor Pringle, a rude and unforgiving little girl.
- Elise Gatien as Madison, Heather's best friend.
- Frank C. Turner as Troopmaster Barrett, the scoutmaster of Troop 133.
- Doug Abrahams as a man who supposedly rescued Rodrick from drowning.
- Amitai Marmorstein as a man who works on the Cranium Shaker.
Deleted Movie Scenes[]
- You're Going to Have an Accident: During breakfast, Frank says the Heffley men should start spending more time together since it's summer. Meanwhile, Greg and Rodrick fight over a sausage until Susan made them stop and listen to what Frank said. Out of anger for throwing Thingy away, Manny interrupts Frank that he was gonna have an accident before leaving. Susan expresses starting a book club, but Rodrick and Frank made up excuses to get out of it however before Greg could say anything, Frank threw him in on Susan's idea.
- Dad Gets Drafted: After arriving at the troop, Frank is blackmailed by Barrett to help with the troop.
- There's an alternate ending where Frank tells everyone about the new Lil' Cutie comic strip and how it's worse than the original before Greg throws the comic in the trash. This scene was most likely deleted in favor of the Sweetie scene. The alternative ending is available on the DVD and Blu-Ray release of the film as an extra.
- The Anthill: No screenshots or clips of this scene have been found, but it has been mentioned in The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary. Greg and his friends come across an anthill in the forest.
Trivia[]
- The movie has the basic plot of The Last Straw, but the setting was changed to the summer.
- While the movie received mixed reviews from critics, many fans consider this and Rodrick Rules to be much better than the first film, thus making it receive more positive reviews.
- This is the third film in the film series.
- Rodrick is nicer to Greg in the whole movie, unlike in the movies Rodrick Rules and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
- This is the last film with the original cast, as they had all outgrown their roles following production wrap up.
- If a plane flew ahead during filming, Steve Zahn would refuse to say his lines.
- This movie is The Last Straw and Dog Days combined into one story.
- This movie was released the same year as The Third Wheel, in 2012, but Dog Days (2012 film) was released before the 7th book came out.
- Previously, this was the only film to not be streaming on Disney+. It is instead streamed only on HBO Max, due to HBO having the cable rights to the film.
- On March 4th, 2022, the film was available to be streamed on Disney+ due to Disney purchasing 20th Century Fox.
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