Holes Reviews

‘The Shawshank Redemption’ for juvenile delinquents

‘Holes’ is based on the multi-award winning novel by Louis Sachar. It tells the story of Stanley Yelnats (write it backwards) (played by Shia LaBeouf) who has a talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

His grandfather tells him it’s all the fault of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather whose actions left the males in the family cursed forever and eternity; but Stanley doesn’t believe in curses. Until a pair of trainers falls from the sky sparking a chain of events that leaves Stanley with an eighteen month sentence at Camp Greenlake, a correctional facility where they believe “if you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy”.

‘The Shawshank Redemption’ for juvenile delinquents, a tale of star-crossed lovers, a western, a fairytale and a hunt for buried treasure. Rarely has a film crossed genres so effectively and the result is a masterpiece.

The screenplay (also written by Sachar) is never trite or dull and is startling in its economy when dealing with such a complex storyline. The performances (including turns from Sigourney Weaver, John Voight and Patricia Arquette) are inspired.

Particularly impressive are the child actors (led by LaBeouf giving Tom Hanks a run for his money) who produce superbly naturalistic performances.

To label ‘Holes’ a kid’s film is to discount the most original family film since ‘The Princess Bride’. Moving, funny and magical this is Gabriel García Márquez for new millennium.

Marvelous adaptation!

I read the book when I was about 9, loved the fact that it didn't treat its audience as stupid, and included touchy subjects such as racism.. and now I'm even happier that Louis Sachar (the author of the book) had a hand in the creation of this movie. The result is a fantastic family movie that isn't typical sugar-coated Disney stuff (although I was a bit disappointed by the schmaltzy ending, as far as I remember, the book ending wasn't as gooey). While the tale of the curse is highly unlikely, the characters and the place are very real; there is no typical bad guy that you keep hating (a flashback to the Warden as a child shows that the Warden, too, is human) and the kids are in no way goody-two-shoes, in fact, they're bullies, mirroring real kids who *are* like that when a new kid comes along.

I enjoyed the performances of the children very much, especially that of Shia LaBeouf (Stanley), which might say something considering I loathed that Disney series he's in! Sigourney Weaver and Jon Voigt are gleefully evil, and all in all it makes for fabulous viewing; it should be next to 'The Lion King' and 'Beauty and the Beast' on the kids' DVD shelves.

Crazy stuff

Watched this with my wife (and no kids) and we both loved it. All the way through I had no idea what was going to happen next, which is always a good thing in my book.

A piece of Magic Realism with the bare minimum of the usual heavy-handed Disney schmaltz - I highly recommend Holes for adults - I'm not too sure about kids (although the previous reviewer says their children loved it so...).

It's fairly intelligent, funny and just a bit different from a lot of other films out there.

And the lead kid (I forget his name) is *very* good in his role. All the kids are good (the adults too - John Voight is particularly excellent!) but the lead kid is a marvel.

Holes

Watched this as a family with 3 young children (9, 7 and 5). We all really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it!

Enjoyable family film

This is a very enjoyable film and is very true to the book. At times I wished it was a bit longer so that we could learn a bit more about the main characters but I suppose as it is aimed at children/family audience they wanted to keep it moving along.

My girlfriend hasn't read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it, so as usual, watch the film first then read the book!

not typical disney but a great family film

our daughter immediately recognised the lead actor and enjoyed it from the outset, not your typical 'everyone smiles 24-7' style of disney though which probably is what made it more watchable for adults too- we'd anticipated the plot as being predictable in usual family movie style but this one really did keep us guessing until the end.

Holes falls into that rare category of childrens films good enough for adults to enjoy. Yes, being Disney there's a fair amount of ickyness (the sickly romance between two of the flashback characters being the worst), and the mystery of what the kids are digging holes for is fairly obvious from the start, but the construction is nice, with the lengthy flashback sequences mirroring the modern day action. One for big kids.

Unexpectedly enjoyable

I watched this film without any expectations and found it to be hugely entertaining. It's very funny in places but dark and bizarre as well.

This is very well acted by both the kids and the adults - John Voight plays his character brilliantly and really made me laugh. As for the plot, it is predictable at times but that doesn't take away the enjoyment of this film.

This may look like one for the kids but I highly recommend it to any adults looking for a fun and entertaining film.

Where did this come from

A film which should certainly have done better if the studio's had pushed it, set in a desert punishment camp for kids the characters are well developed and you actually care about them. Funny, unusual and well worth renting

Cracking adaptation

This kids movie is a a lot more intelligent and multi-layered than most adult films, and as such definitely deserves a watch.

It's works on just about every level, with a great cast and excellent use of flashbacks and narrations fleshing out the witty, resonant story, telling of the criss-crossing of families over several generations.