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88Fat Kid Rules the World is a movie with a title that might be misleading: It's a lot better than it sounds like it has any right to be.
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Oct 7, 201270The film succeeds thanks to Lillard's clear affection for the material and on the strength of its performances, especially Billy Campbell as Troy's conflicted father.
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70Affecting performances and effective storytelling are the hallmarks of Fat Kid Rules the World.
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67Special notice should be given to Billy Campbell, who takes a stock character and gives him a new spin.
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63People matter in Matthew Lillard's film; genre not so much.
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Oct 12, 201260Endearingly uneven.
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Oct 4, 201260This adaptation of K. L. Going's 2003 young-adult novel about a rejuvenated overweight teenager takes a humble, heartfelt approach, until sentiment loses out to message sending.
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60A commendably restrained loser-turns-winner tale offering an unexpected second showcase for Terri star Jacob Wysocki, Matthew Lillard's Fat Kid Rules the World is less colorful than its grandeur-deluded title suggests.
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50The movie is achingly slow, and by the time it's over, the story is about where it should have been after about 45 minutes. Then it ends just as it gets good, or as it's starting to.
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40Lillard's film ends up being more unsatisfying than anything else. His "Fat Kid" might rule the world, but it doesn't quite rule the screen.
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40This is an odd little directorial debut from Matthew Lillard - the onetime Shaggy from "Scooby-Doo," now a solid character actor thanks to "The Descendants" and "Trouble with the Curve" - but it has its rewards.
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25Directed by journeyman actor Matthew Lillard, this tame and by-the-numbers effort never succeeds in making the outcast situation cinematic or interesting.