Happily, after a cartoon opening-credits sequence that overdoes it on the barf, Worms goes light (but not too light) on the gore and the goo.

Worms is one of those rare kiddie flicks that successfully adopt a child’s-eye view of the world, where nothing is more important than saving face on the playground and where parents are as distant and clueless as storybook giants.

There's no great art to Fried Worms' simple, family-friendly style and obvious clichés, but there's a refreshing lack of x-treme attitude, slapstick violence, and all the other things that make most kids' movies feel like they were generated by a marketing committee.

The film is genuinely good-natured and kids -- particularly the ones who actually do this sort of stuff to worms -- will enjoy it and may even take the movie's loose morals to heart.

Boys will be happy at the mild grossness; parents will tolerate anything that entertains their hyperkinetic boys; and sisters will agree with the film's lone girl.