This is by no means, an awful film. I recently downloaded a copy of the film for my sister and she thoroughly enjoyed. She actually enjoyed it so much, she watched in 3 times in the next week! She told me it was a great film and I began to watch it.
I must admit, at first the film seemed a little weird but very soon the film introduces you to Kalvin, Reg and Murph and the bully leader Ox. That was one particular strength for the film. Also, when the coach gives Kalvin the tickets, you can start to connect with the character and understand what his life as an orphan must be like. The film got my attention and I began to enjoy it. It had, to be fair, not many laughs but the story was good, closely resembling the story 'Holes' in many ways.
Tracy Renalds was a brilliant addition to the film and he really connected well with Kalvin. This was, in my opinion, the biggest strength of this film.
Brenda Song does a great job as playing Reg. I'm a big fan of 'Suite Life of Zack and Cody' where she does an amazing job and I thought her performance was great in this film. Bow Wow did a very good job in the film.
Overall, definitely ignore IMDb on this circumstance and watch this film. However, note that this film is not for all ages and its mainly for little children but I myself being a 16 year old liked it.