Holes Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)April 23rd, 2003
"Holes"
Stanley Yelnats IV (Shia LaBeouf) suffers the bad luck of an ancient family curse. He is sent to the detention center at Camp Green Lake for a crime he did not commit. The camp director, known as "the Warden" (Sigourney Weaver), and her right-hand henchmen Mr. Sir (John Voight) and Dr. Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson), for mysterious and probably unsavory reasons, has Stanley and his campmates out in the blazing sun day after day digging "Holes."
Disney Studios production of "Holes" is based on the best-selling novel by Louis Sachar and adapted to the screen by the author. When Stanley is caught with a stolen pair of baseball cleats donated to charity, despite his pleas of innocence, he is incarcerated and sent to serve his time at Camp Green Lake, a dry desolate place that used to be a thriving lake 100 years before. Once their he meets his campmates - Squid, Armpit, ZigZag, Magnet, X-Ray and Zero - and learns that, every day, he must dig a hole in the desert five-feet wide by five-feet deep for reasons unknown. Stanley soon begins to question, in his mind, why the Warden demands that she be told of anything "interesting" the boys may find.
As Stanley's story unfolds we come to learn that "Holes" is a lot more than a "Cool Hand Luke" kind of prison for teenagers. Things become much more complex as we learn, through flashback, about a gypsy's (Eartha Kitt) curse brought upon the Yelnats family when Stanley's great-great-grandfather failed to meet the terms of an agreement with the ancient fortuneteller. Grandpa Elya left Europe and came to the Old West only to have his hard won fortune stolen by the notorious bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow (Patricia Arquette). Another flash back tells about an interracial friendship and romance, a century ago, when Green Lake really existed.
The story doesn't stop with these several threads, either. There is also the sidebar as Stanley's father, Stanley III (Henry Winkler), struggles to keep his home and find a cure for smelly feet. Little Zero (Khleo Thomas) is also intertwined with the Yelnats family's past and he becomes increasingly important as the story unrolls. Of course, day-to-day life in the prison and the interaction among the boys and their keepers, the sleazy Mr. Sir (with Voight giving a campy perf akin to his in "Anaconda") and none-too-bright Dr. Pendanski, doing the bidding of the demanding tyrant warden.
"Holes," with so many story threads interwoven in its cinematic tapestry, is a complicated tale that takes the viewer a while to sort through before it makes any real sense. Although Camp Green Lake is a juvenile delinquent facility, it appears more like something out of a Kafka novel or Orwell's "1984." The boys are subjected to the hard labor, daily, of digging the title holes and extremely harsh conditions, sometimes under tortuous duress. This alone seems to be material for adults rather than kids, but when the interracial relationship and its subsequent tragic end enter the picture, the film's PG rating seems too lightweight.
The film benefits from its veteran adult cast - Weaver, Voight, Nelson and Arquette do fine in giving some depth to their slightly drawn characters - and from a too underutilized younger cast. Of the kids, LaBoeuf and Thomas fare best with the rest of the boys trying to create unique characters in a limited amount of time.
Production values are high across the board. Andrew Davis hasn't had a great track record since his popular "The Fugitive," but he has crafted an interesting youthful fantasy tale with "Holes." His longtime collaborator, cinematographer Stephen St. John, has come up with some stunning camera work as he shows the incredible scope of the Warden's private works project. As the camera rises above one hole to slowly show many from a great height, it is a nicely composed viewpoint. Other techs, like Maher Ahmad's stylish production design and Aggie Guerard Rodgers imaginative costume. Add to the film's overall quality.
Not being familiar with Sachar's works it was an effort to sort out what is going at first, but after a while, the serio-comic aspects came to the fore. Still, "Holes" flip flops between slapstick and black comedy, not always in a seamless way. It's really for the fans of Sachar's work and I give it a B-.
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