Many adult critics are panning Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer. Yet the majority of kids at the screening I attended seemed to find the film fun and comical.

The movie, based on Megan McDonald’s best-selling “Judy Moody” book series, has sold four million copies in 23 languages. With that kind of an audience, it only made sense to turn one into  a movie.

Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer begins when Judy decides to make a chart. She and her three friends will mark the chart with points during their summer to see who ends up with the best score – assuming the results will indicate which person had the best summer.

Judy (Jordana Beatty) is devastated when she learns her two closest friends, Rocky (Garrett Ryan) and Amy (Taylar Hender) are leaving town. That means she’s left with Frank (Preston Bailey), who manages to make Judy have a horrible time, even at the amusement park when he throws up on the roller coaster.

Trying to forget about the good times her friends are having, Judy wants to trump their experiences. But what could be better than Rocky helping out in a real circus or Amy going to Borneo for a vacation?

Judy comes across as a true vision of a frustrated, bored young girl who must create her own fun. What I like about her is that she isn’t glued to a cell phone, lap top, iPod, or TV for entertainment. Similar to children in days gone by, she makes bizarre creations from numerous ideas and follows through to carry them out. Sometimes she ends up with good results, other times not. But there’s a learning lesson in both outcomes.

Explaining Judy’s character, McDonald said, “When you first see Judy with her messy hair and her colorful wardrobe, you know this is a creative, imaginative child. She has a lot of ups and downs, like we all do, and the books are about the things that happen every day. You don’t always win the spelling bee. You go to the pet contest and something goes wrong when your cat tries to make toast.”

Beatty, an Australian actress who first auditioned for the role of Judy on Skype, had to work with a dialect coach before filming. She’s great as Judy and hits every annoying beat of the girl’s  personality while polishing the good traits as well. Beatty also works well with her co-stars without over-shinning them.

Judy’s little brother Stink (Parris Mosteller) is quite a character. He’s obsessed with Bigfoot. He’s sure the creature has been seen in town and is out to capture him. Mosteller (a regular on TV’s Worst Week) does a great job making Stink real, funny and of course, a pain to his big sister.

The kids’ parents (Janet Varney and Kristoffer Winters) leave town quickly, so Aunt Opal (Heather Graham) arrives to take care of the kids. Her crazy ideas are even sillier than Judy’s. Although it might have been funnier if the two of them were more on the same page, they share some funny moments.  

Negative reviews of Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer include comments about Judy’s  hair having an Alfalfa cowlick and being un-brushed, her wardrobe which consists of pajama bottoms paired with t-shirts and flip flops, her silly made-up words such as ‘Supercalifragilistic-expithrilladellic,’ her dumb charts, and about the story lacking a satisfying journey.  

I had three kids and have a 10-year granddaughter visiting right now. Youngsters are often content to get out of bed and let their hair be a beehive or crushed mess the entire day. They grab the clothes left piled on the floor and rarely care if they match. I recently caught my granddaughter heading out the door in a nylon nightgown to go rock climbing. Sit down and listen to a conversation by young teens and I guarantee you’ll hear many made-up words you don’t understand. My 10-year-old daughter loved to make charts.

So I didn’t see the boring, fun-lacking movie described by most critics. I saw a film that kids could relate to because Judy Moody is just like real kids. And she gets moody just as they do in a flash. Are there jokes about poop? Yes. Do some scenes go on too long? Maybe, but that’s true of many films. Will this be appealing to adults? Probably not, but the kids learn a few lessons and will enjoy Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer -- especially those who are fans of the book series.

(Released by Relativity Media and rated “PG” for some mild rude humor and language.)

Review also posted at www.reviewexpress.com.