Allow me to start this review off by correcting a common misconception about the new movie Holes. Despite its promotion as such, Holes is not a kids movie. A far more accurate description would be the one used by my esteemed colleague Grouch in his review of Shrek: It's an everyone’s movie.

Yes Holes has something in it for everyone. It's got plenty of adventure and laughs for the kids, it has satirical references to previous movies (Most notably Cool Hand Luke and The Shawshank Redemption) and subtle social commentary for the adults and it all culminates in a tight package for almost all ages (Apart from some scenes that may be too much for the youngest kids. I'd say that you could take kids 7 and up to Holes and not have to worry) to enjoy.

Part of the reason for Holes kids’ movie pedigree is the fact that it is based on a Newberry winning novel by famed kids book author Louis Sachar. I've never read the book in question, though I did read three of his other novels in my late childhood (11-12) years and remembered that Sachar is a master at mixing farce and biting truth (aside from Sideways Stories From Wayside School and its sequels, which were outright farce).

The main character of Holes is a rather nerdy kid named Stanley Yelnats IV (Played by the unknown to me until now actor Shia Lebeouf). As the film begins we see Stanley walking along when a pair of shoes fall out of the sky. He picks them up and soon discovers that the shoes were hot property. The judge sends Stanley to Camp Green Lake for 18 months.

Camp Green Lake, despite its name, is not a summer camp kids beg their parents to let them attend. No, Camp Green Lake makes Camp Granada look like paradise. To sum it up, Camp Green Lake is probably the closest one would come nowadays to seeing kids working on a chain gang.

A woman who is known only as The Warden (Sigourney Weaver) runs the camp. Weaver does quite well in this role in that she gives us a character to really hate. There is a moment where she brutalizes the almost as hateful overseer played by Jon Voight and you actually feel sorry for him, even though he is also clearly a villain. I could see Weaver telling venom-spewing aliens if they ever landed at Green Lake to start digging holes. In addition there is Voight as Mr. Sir, the aforementioned Overseer who chews on sunflower seeds to kick his smoking habit and Tim Blake Nelson as Stanley's bunk counselor.

Getting back to that hole digging business, camp rules state that each boy must dig at least one hole per day. According to the Warden and Mr. Sir, Digging holes builds character. Slowly Stanley begins a friendship with a kid named Zero who is the fastest hole digger in the camp.

The prison story is intermingled with two flashbacks. The first flashback deals with a curse that was put on Stanley's great ancestors. The second one involves the exploits of a former teacher and how her love affair with a sharecropper inadvertently turned her into one of the most famous bandits in the old west. Of course, all of these stories will come together in the end. But I will say no more about them.

This movie manages to be quite funny and still touch on some pretty hefty issues (Child abuse and abandonment, Racism in the old south, Abuse of justice). As such, it also touches on every emotion one might feel, from sadness to anger to outright joy.

The performances are (as I previously noted) good all around. In addition to the ones I noted above, there are also good ones by Patricia Arquette, Henry Winkler and Eartha Kitt. What's especially great is the way director Andrew Davis actually made the movie. Working from a script by Sachar himself, Davis molds the three storylines together well in a cohesive flow. He doesn’t present the flashbacks as flashbacks; he treats them as though they were part of the story itself. This keeps the moving going right along and the audience involved all the way through. The only real complaint I have is the absolutely final scene, which feels suspiciously tacked on, as though Mr. Davis, having taken the story to its conclusion could not leave well enough alone.

It's a shame that Holes is being overlooked in favor of much of the crap that is its competition (Malibu's Most Wanted, Anger Management). Holes already stands as the family movie for the summer crowd to beat. Go see it and take the kids as well. You'll all walk out happy.

Recommended: Yes