Holes review

Mr. Pendanski: You are here on account of one person; do you know who that one person is? 
Stanley: Yeah, my no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather, that's who it is. 

Holes, Shia Lebeouf’s breakout film is not what’s expected from a film aimed at children. It isn't simple, or dumbed down, or inaccessible to adults; but rather enjoyable, fresh and fun. The film centers on LeBeouf's Stanley Yelnats, a boy wrongfully convicted stealing from a charity auction and sentenced to 18 months in camp greenlake. In a contrast to its name, camp greenlake is a barren desert. Once here he is made to dig holes, 5 feet wide and 5 deep in order to ‘build character’. The camp is overlooked by ‘the warden’ (Sigourney Weaver) and managed by the kooky Mr. Sir (Jon Voight). Both this veteran actors are good here, adding a mature edge to an otherwise exceedingly young cast. Lebouf is also good, making his performances in transformers look ironically childish by comparison.

It’s without a doubt that Sigourney Weaver stands out here as the domineering camp warden with her threatening demeanor and icy presence. It’s her who has the kids digging holes, and as the plot develops it’s clear that she isn't interested in building character.  The narrative is easily the best aspect of holes, most notably due to the films superb use of flashbacks. These portray camp greenlake at a time when it really was a greenlake with a town community and not a barren desert. These flashbacks focus on the relationship between school teacher miss Katherine (Patricia Arquette) and local onion merchant Sam (Dule Hill). These flashbacks give the narrative depth and intricacy, and show how events affect important members of the story. Enough time is also taken to make sure that these flashbacks are fully integrated into the story, preventing them from feeling tacked on.

Despite the strong development of the narrative, holes does lack significantly in some areas, most notably in its young cast. The children of camp greenlake are poorly developed, and the majority are instantly forgettable aside from Zero (Khleo Thomas), a mysterious young boy who only begins communicating with people when Stanley arrives. The CGI used on the deadly yellow spotted lizards that plague the camp is also poor and looks cheap, detracting from how deadly they actually are to our hero’s.

As the adventure concludes, all the strands of narrative successfully come together and tie the story up. It’s apparent that hiring source material novelist Louis Sachar to write the screenplay was a wise choice, as nothing feels drastically out of place. It’s just a bit of a shame that the ending is far too generic and cliché. Up until this point events have been stark and realistic (the boys have been, after all, forced to dig holes in the desert, often till their hands blister), but these elements are abandoned for a saccharine sweet finish. There is nothing wrong with holes finishing in this way, but when the ending is this happy, the fresh narrative falls prey of catering to the audience that it appeals to. Regardless, holes is an enjoyable adventure that is about as universally appealing as a film can become.

7