Holes (2003)
Directed by Andrew Davis
Written by Louis Sachar
Starring Shia LeBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson
Release Date April 18th, 2003
Published April 17th, 2003
Posters and wall hangings for the movie Holes began popping up in my local theater over 3 months ago. Because they touted the Disney connection of the film, I took little notice of them writing the film off as yet another formula Disney family movie. It wasn't until recently that I found out Holes is based on a book that had been a phenomenal hit with grade schoolers. This piqued my interest so I checked in with my grade school pop culture consultants, my nieces Megan, 11, and Alexa, 9. They told me that indeed Holes was a big hit in their school though Alexa was more interested than Megan was. Alexa was a little annoyed about my questions because she claims she told me about Holes a long time ago. So armed with this new knowledge, and never one to be left out of the pop culture loop, I went and checked out the movie.
Holes tells a couple of parallel stories that all play into one central story. The center of the story is Stanley Yelnats (Shia Lebeouf) who while walking home is hit in the head by a pair of baseball cleats. What Stanley doesn't know right away is that shoes were stolen from a charity auction for the homeless and were the property of a famous ballplayer. The film doesn't tip off the audience to exactly what is happening, all we know is that Stanley didn't steal the shoes but is nevertheless railroaded in court and sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile camp called Camp Greenlake.
The name Camp Greenlake is ironic because it’s far from green and there is no lake anywhere. The camp is in the middle of the desert and is run by three numbskull bad guys, Mr. Sir (Jon Voight), Dr. Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson) and Warden Walker (Sigourney Weaver). According to the slimy Mr. Sir, Stanley's punishment at Camp Greenlake for his 18-month stay is to dig holes. Everyday for endless hours, nothing but digging. The counselors say digging builds character but it’s obvious to even the camp's most dunderheaded inhabitant that they are digging for something.
That something may be the treasure of a legendary bank robber known as Kissin Kate Barlow (Patricia Arquette). Kate Barlow was once a loving, docile school teacher who taught both the children and adults of Greenlake how to read and write. Her life was changed forever by a short sweet romance with Sam the onion man (West Wing’s Dule Hill). It began simply enough with Sam trading Kate his delicious onions in exchange for her delicious peaches. Then Sam offered to fix holes in the schoolhouse roof and from there, a tentative romance that is sweet and tender and yet barely takes up 10 to 15 minutes of screentime. The Sam and Kate subplot is the best thing about the film. Director Andrew Davis paints the romance quickly but without sacrificing the tenderness and Arquette and Hill have terrific chemistry. As the subplot develops in flashback, the fact that Sam is black tips the audience to the likely tragic ending of the romance to come.
There is yet another flashback story that plays into the main story, which is the story of the Yelnats family curse that Stanley believes has landed him in trouble. It seems years ago before coming to America Stanley's great grandfather made a deal with a sorceress Madam Zeroni, but before completing the deal he ran off to America and Madame Zeroni curse the family forever.
I won't reveal how the subplots play into the film’s main story, but I will say that it all makes sense in the end and the multiple flashbacks never become overbearing or distracting. They each reveal little clues that play in the ending of the film. Again I cannot praise enough the romance between Arquette and Hill which is of course meant to teach a lesson of history and tolerance. Because of Davis' skillful direction and writer Louis Sachar's smart script (Sachar also wrote the book), the subplot never seems preachy or heavy-handed.
The surprising thing about Holes is the amount of negativity sprinkled throughout that the film’s cute kids movie trailer doesn't prepare you for. The trailer is quite a swerve, leading those who didn't read the book to think you were seeing a Goonies-like gang of friends who stand up to the bad guys and work together as friends to find treasure. In reality, the supporting characters played up as Stanley's friends are for most of the film rather mean and unlikable. That is destined to change by the end of the film but it's certainly surprising at the beginning. Credit Sachar for such a risky choice to allow the kids of Camp Greenlake to actually be the obnoxious troublemakers that would end up being sent to a camp like the one in the film.
The problem areas of the film come from its one-note villains, Weaver, Nelson and especially Jon Voight. Playing a verified version of his amazon guide from Anaconda, Voight gets on your nerves with his many character quirks and quick tempered over acting. As for Weaver and Nelson, they don't rely on quirks and over acting likely because their character development was left on the cutting room floor, leaving them to simply be jerks. The film’s pacing is also at times a little slow and will leave many checking their watch and feeling they have been in the theater far longer than it seems
Nevertheless, there is more good than bad in Holes which is a parable about race, love, family and friendship masked in a mystery about buried treasure and western legend. With such unwieldy elements to tie into one story, credit Louis Sachar and Andrew Davis for making the film coherent. That it's also mildly entertaining is a nice bonus.
