Holes

Holes
April 18, 2003
Disney
Comedy, Mystery, Historical, Romance
DVD
B

Based on one of the quirkiest children's novels ever, probably the quirkiest to win the Newbery Award, this film is a relatively faithful adaptation by Louis Sachar of his book.  My main quibble, which is more of an issue onscreen, is that not all the plot threads are tied together for the hero Stanley Yelnats IV.  The reader/viewer is shown the various time periods and clues, but he's not.  Yet he nonetheless has to solve the interlocking mysteries.

One of these periods is the Wild West of 100 or more years ago.  My other quibble is that the timeframe just doesn't work in terms of the Warden's family, unless her grandfather lives to be about 120.  Still, I thought that the scenes involving the interracial romance were among the best.  There are some surprising subjects in this movie, it being Disney and all.

The main subject though is friendship and family, and how they can get you through hard times.  Shia LaBeouf as Stanley and Khleo Thomas as Hector Zeroni are appealing and believable buddies.  And the other boys at Camp Green Lake (where there is no lake) are memorable.  Just about every character here is a "character," but it never gets to be too much, even when Henry Winkler (as Stanley Yelnats III) is singing about odor-free shoes.  And the soundtrack is pretty good, particularly the "Dig It" song by the Boys of D Tent.

Steve Kozlowski was Carmine Friend #1 in Good Will Hunting and is Lump here.  Siobhan Fallon Hogan, who plays Stanley's mother, would be the Birthing Teacher in Baby Mama, while Sigourney Weaver (playing the Warden here) would be Chaffee Bicknell there.  (She was Alvy's movie date back in Annie Hall.)