Holes (2003)

**Warning: Contains Spoilers**Ever since I can remember, Holes has been a favorite film of mine. Holes is a 2003 Disney film about a boy, Stanley Yelnats, who is sent to a rehab camp for a crime he did not commit. The film not only focuses on Stanley and his adventures in camp, but also his ancestors. The film uses flashbacks to show you his great grandpa and great great grandpa. Stanley's ancestors stories eventually connect to Stanley and his life in the camp. Because this is a Disney film you would think that the intended audience is 7-14 year old's. After watching this film, nothing is further from the truth. Yes, it still stays true to its Disney roots, by not having blood, nudity, or inappropriate language. Even without these things this movie has the amazing ability to reach all demographics. It's able to do this because it has a very complex story line that engages adults and children. It is also partly because of phenomenal acting, and partly because it captures real human emotion, interactions, and relationships. The movie starts off with Stanley getting arrested and sentenced to 18 months at Camp Green Lake, a rehab facility that takes troubled youth and changes them. Stanley's family knows he did not commit the crime and is in fact innocent. The only explanation they can give Stanley was it was his "no good dirty rotten pig stealing great great grandfather", who cursed the family. So Stanley goes to Camp Green Lake. The rehab consist of digging a five foot by five foot hole everyday. The mission statement of the camp is manual labor will make a bad boy a good boy. This is not the truth though. The truth is that the warden knows of a treasure that was buried somewhere in that very desert in the 1800's. So the Warden builds a camp that digs holes in the hope she can find the treasure and get rich. Little does she know that the treasure actually belongs to Stanley's great grandfather. Stanley's past and ancestors are explained with flashbacks that take place throughout the story line. The story is complex as it is emotional. But with an attentive eye towards films, you can understand this movie perfectly the first time around. Bad acting in my opinion can kill a movie, regardless of the story line, special effects, and cinematography. So when watching a movie the first thing I look for is the acting skills. The protagonist, Stanley Yelnats is played by Shia Labeouf. In 2003 Shia was still an "up and comer" in the acting world. He had yet to have his breakthrough movie that put him on the map. This movie changed his career. It skyrocketed his performance capabilities out of the Disney bubble, which had consumed many actors. Through his incredible acting in this film, he earned a place in Hollywood. Big name actors like Jon Voight, Sigourney Weaver and Tim Blake Nelson also help carry this light hearted fiction into a believable touching story. The side actors are also very good and believable delinquents. Overall the acting does not disappoint, which helps engage the audience in the characters and story line. This also helps it reach all audiences instead of just kids, who often times do not notice bad acting as well as adults. Another aspect that makes Holes a classic film for all demographics, is its ability to relate with people by showing real human emotions and interactions. Most of the times Disney's intended audience is a younger crowd. So in most of their movies, the acting and emotions are basic, so that this younger crowd can understand and connect with the movie. It is not this way in Holes. There are complex relationships and story lines. You see Stanley getting blamed for a crime he didn't commit, and the heartache it causes his mother. You also see how she tries to keep it together in an attempt to stay strong for him. You see him stay optimistic and write home often, to try to comfort his mother. There are also themes of bullying throughout the movie. Stanley is confronted with hard choices of doing what's right and helping an unpopular boy versus doing what's accepted and joining in the hazing of him. A good example of how everything's not black and white, is shown with the antagonist, the Warden. Contrary to most Disney movies, the antagonist is not some evil person who's main goal is to have everyone that is not her be miserable. No, she is just greedy, all she cares about is the treasure. But she still has feelings and deeper goals that are shown. You also see themes of forgiveness. Stanley meets another boy at camp named Hector. He later finds out Hector's actions contributed to him being at camp. Instead of remaining angry, Stanley forgives Hector. I believe these deep human emotions and struggles that we see Stanley go through and overcome over the course of the film is what takes it from being an average film to an extraordinary one. Every person watching can relate to at least one character or a character's struggle throughout the film. In this regard the movie becomes more than a movie to the viewers. It becomes something more powerful and meaningful to you. The main takeaway that I really want to drive home is this: Holes is not just another Disney movie. In it you will find a complex story that will keep you engaged no matter what age or maturity. This is accomplished with the help of amazing actors, both veteran and new to Hollywood.Their incredible performance allows you to connect on some level to the story and take away something personal and touching to you and you alone. It is absolutely worth your two hours.

Released in 2003, Holes is a movie that contains drama and comedy. The prominent stars of the movie are Shia LaBoeuf (Stanley), Sigourney Weaver (Warden), Jon Voigt (Mr.Sir), Tim Blake Nelson (Mr. Pendanski) and Khleo Thomas (Zero). Louis Sachar is the one who wrote the book that was based on to make the movie. The movie lasts 117 minutes. Everything started at Camp Green Lake in Texas in contemporary time…s.Stanley Yelnats has a weird family : he is Stanley Yelnats the fourth and his father is trying to find a way to recycle sneakers. Everything is going ''normally'' until one day : Stanley is accused of stealing Clyde Livingston's shoes (they are really famous) and between going to jail or to Camp Green Lake, Stanley chooses Camp Green Lake (a juvenile detention center). At Camp, nothing seems normal : the boys have to dig holes all day long and Stanley is sure that the Warden is looking for something and the digging is just an excuse to search for what she's looking for. One day, Zero ( a friend of Stanley's) takes off and Stanley goes looking for him. Together, the make it to God's thumb (a mountain), Zero confessed something to Stanley that might change everything between them and they find out the whole truth about that place and themselves.The movie scenes are a lot similar to the book's. The actors say the exact same thing as the book's characters. The events happen at the good time and the chronological order is respected as well. The necessary lines of the book are in the movie and the unnecessary ones aren't there. It's a great thing.The soundtrack is also very nice. The music suits the story and the concept. For example, the song ''Dig it'' suits the movie in a perfect way. Plus, the name of the band who sang it is ''D-Tent'' like in the movie ( Stanley and Zero are in the D-Tent). The music is great and well associated to the movie.I really like the movie Holes. It is really great and the cast is very good. The actors learnt their lines and it shows. I read the book and when I watched the movie, it was the exact same thing. There are just little differences (skipped parts). Usually, the books are way better than the movies, but this time, the movie is better. It seemed a little old, because it was in the desert and the visual effects weren't extraordinary. While watching the movie, I felt attached to the characters and to the story. I would give the movie a 8/10 mark, because it is well done, but perfection does not exist and it was not the best movie I watched, either. Anyways, I would recommend it to a public that is between ten and fifteen years old who likes adventure, drama and comedy all mixed up in a movie.Laetitia 203

This movie created in 2003, is an adventure movie. Holes was directed by Andrew Davis. This film of 117 minutes was produced by Disney.The story of the movie was print of the book Holes writed by Louis Sachar. In this movie, Shia Labeouf play the role of a boy of 14 years who thinks his family have a curse. Stanley goes to Camp Green Lake. At Camp Green Lake,you don't play you dig! If you read the book, you will see that is very different of the movie! There many actors, but I will talk you about Stanley, Zero, Mr.Pendanski and Mr.Sir. The main character is Stanley. The best friend of Stanley is Kléo Thomas who play Zero. Mr.Pendanski is one of the guard. Tim Blake Nelson play Mr.Pendanski. Mr.Pendanski is more nice than Mr.Sir. Mr.Sir is the teammate of Mr.Pendanski. Jon Voigt play Mr.Sir.In the movie, every teenagers at Camp Green Lake wear a orange uniform, but the Warden( Sigourney Weaver), Mr.Sir and Mr. Pendanski don't wear orange uniform.I liked the movie, but there one thing that I don't liked is because the movie is different of the book. I recommend this movie to you if you don't read the book.Elyse 202

My movie is Hole. It was released in 2003, the movie takes place in Texas. The genre of the movie is adventure, comedy and drama. The director is Andrew Daws and the screenplay is the same one that wrote the book, it's Louis Sachar. The movie lenght is 117 minutes. It was producted by Disney and it's rated p.g. The prominent stars are Shia Lebeouf (Stanley), Sigourney Weaver (The warden), Jon voight (Mr.sir) and Tim Blake Nelson(Mr.Pendanski).The movie is about the story of Stanley Yelnats, a guy s at Camp Green Lake for a crime that he didn't commit, which is stealing shoes of a base-ball player. When he went to the camp, the first thing that he saw was that there is no lake. When he was there, he made a lot of friends, but one in particular: everybody named him Zero, but his real name is Hector Zeroni. He will escape from the camp with Stanley.Now, I am going to talk about one aspect of the movie that I really like. It's the fact that the movie brings the book to life. Of course, there is some little details that are not respected, but it don't disturb the viewer. The actor were playing very well. Secondly, I really like the fact that there is family lies in the movie: Zero and Madame Zeroni, The warden and trout walker, etc.Finally I think that it's a really good movie because the story is interesting, the actors played very well, etc.Yassine 202