Holes
Cast
Sigourney Weaver .... Warden Louise Walker
Jon Voight .... Mr. Sir (Marion Sirvio)
Tim Blake Nelson .... Dr. Pendanski
Shia LaBeouf .... Stanley Yelnats IV/Caveman
Khleo Thomas .... Zero/ Hector Zeroni
Directed by
Andrew Davis
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
6/10. Holes is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It appears to be a simple Disney
kids film, but turns into so much more. Of course, that's where it's
dragged down: when it tries to be a Disney film. At times it has
quality of older films that are PG because there's not much offensive
material in it, but at times it seems like a film fit for a Disney
audience. When I went into Holes, I expected the script to be
mutilated from the book, even though it's written by the author Louis
Sachar. However, it's similar to the book, except with both a few
welcome differences and a few unwelcome ones.
At times, Holes has some very believable, palpable drama. You could
feel along with the characters, no matter how undeveloped they were.
However, Disney couldn't make a movie that was very good for the
ENTIRE movie. Nope, they had to through in some scatological humor,
much revolving around a character with the nickname of "Armpit".
Also, the film relied too much on flashback for most of the movie. It
had uneven cuts, with much of the time in the middle of the movie
revolving around the flashback, with not enough time at the present
time. Although Holes wouldn't have worked without flashback, there
was just too much of it (and it did a Fight Club: a flashback in a
flashback).
The plot revolves around Stanley Yelnats IV (Shia LaBeouf). Every man
in his family is named Stanley because it is Yelnats backwards. For
some reason, this didn't work in the movie. He's accused for stealing
shoes donated to an orphanage by baseball star Clyde Livingston (Rick
Fox), while they just hit him on the head. Stanley thinks they fell
from the sky. When he goes to court, Stanley chooses between prison
or Camp Green Lake. Because his family is poor (his father is working
on an invention to cure the smell of shoes), and he's never been to
camp before, he chooses Camp Green Lake. Instead of an actual camp,
however, they have to dig a five by five hole every day to "build
character". But is there some ulterior motive?
Holes is a very enjoyable movie, with part drama, part comedy
(however crude and PG it may be), part thriller, part action. I liked
to go along with Stanley, and the other denizens at the camp.
However, there are a few fatal mistakes. First off, Sachar took out
the most important part of Stanley's character development. In the
book, Stanley was an overweight and teased kid, which helps with his
change throughout the book. However, here he's a scrawny kid, and it
doesn't help out his character. Also, at the end, Sachar tries to
wrap everything up in a nice little package and express ship it to
our hearts, while in the book "you have to fill in the holes
yourself." It wasn't that hard to do in the book, so why would movie
audiences have a tough time?
The acting was good from the adult players, who include Sigourney
Weaver, Jon Voight, Tim Blake Nelson, Henry Winkler, Siobhan Fallon,
Patricia Arquette, and Eartha Kitt, who plays wacky fortuneteller
Madame Zeroni. I really like Nelson, and he reminded me of his role
in O Brother, Where Art Thou, although I haven't seen that movie for
a long time. Weaver seemed obligated to do this film, while Winkler
needed the role. All of them were good. I recognized Fallon as
Beatrice from Men in Black, she has a distinctive voice. Overall, I
would say Holes is a good movie, but you will like it more if you
haven't read the book.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rated PG for violence, mild language and some thematic elements.
Running time: 117 minutes
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