The main reason kids will like Holes – both the movie and the Louis Sachar novel upon which it is based – is that it doesn’t condescend or suck up to them. Here’s a story that isn’t fearful of mixing can’t-hurt-a-fly characters like Stanley Yelnats (Shia LaBeouf) with kids in real trouble, of doing it without being fake, but still retaining a lightness that makes this a most enjoyable movie about a good kid who makes his own good luck.
Combining a trio of big-time adult actors – Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight and Tim Blake Nelson – with a whole bunch of newcomer kids, the movie strikes a near-perfect balance at all levels. It’s funny without being stupid, serious without being sentimental, unlikely without being ridiculous (except occasionally in a good way), and just a whole lot of fun to watch. This is the sort of movie that’s equally enjoyable for an adult as it is for an 11-year-old. How many movies do you see that can legitimately claim that?
Stanley is our hero. He’s got an odd name (his first name is his last name spelled backwards), an eccentric family, and the habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Which is precisely what happens when a stolen pair of running shoes falls from the sky and hits Stanley. Before you can say “Stinky athletic shoes,” Stanley is in court for the theft of the shoes, and he’s off to not-so-beautiful Camp Green Lake. There, he joins a bunch of other young convicts in digging holes on the bed of a long-since dry lake. The purpose of this effort, he’s told by wacky camp supervisor Mr. Sir (Voight) and camp psychologist Dr. Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson) is to build character. The desert is filled with hundreds of these holes, so presumably these kids are loaded with character.
Of course, there is more going on than meets the eye, and as we gradually piece this together, we also learn the story of Stanley’s ancestors and the lake that once was, while also seeing how Stanley builds friendships with the other boys at the camp.
Holes benefits from wacky adult characters – Voight plays the loony Mr. Sir with hilarious abandon, Blake Nelson is priceless as the preachy Pendanski, and Weaver plays the nasty camp warden with a fine veneer of occasional sweetness laid upon a thoroughly sour interior. The kids – while many of them are certainly lacking in refined acting skills – work well together and show an authenticity that’s most refreshing. LaBeouf is a more experienced actor than most of his colleagues, but he too retains a natural charm that makes Stanley most likeable.
Director Andrew Davis has had his share of successes (A Perfect Murder, The Fugitive) and failures (Collateral Damage, Code of Silence) over the years, but here he pulls together all the pieces deftly – no small task given the mix of experienced and raw talent he was working with, and the challenging desert conditions in which most of the movie was filmed. Clearly, Davis and Sachar, who wrote the screenplay from his own novel, worked together very well, as the story is conveyed effectively, and the near two-hour running time is just long enough to cover the story thoroughly without reaching the point of dragging.
Funny, inspiring and just a little bit naughty, Holes is excellent family entertainment – the sort of movie that kids will want to see again and again, and that parents won’t mind sitting through at least once.
