Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Even when you are minding your own business, fate can step in and change your life forever. Such was the case for Stanley Yelnats IV in the movie Holes. Shia LaBeouf (from the television show Even Stevens) plays Stanley, who is accused of stealing a pair of cleats that were worn by one of his favorite baseball players. He is falsely convicted, and given the choice of jail-time or going to a correctional "camp". He chooses the camp, and is sent to Camp Greenlake where they intend for him to spend his 18-month term becoming a better person through hard work. The only thing is, Stanley is in for a different experience than anything that he could have thought up on his own.


Upon reaching the camp, he discovers that the main punishment that the kids there are given, is being forced to dig holes. The story that the guard tells him, is that it is used as a tool to build character in the boys. So, on a daily basis, everyone is required to dig a hole that is 5 feet deep, by 5 feet wide. The guard is played by Jon Voight, and he falls in the character rather well. As a smarmy guy, who relishes the control that he is given at the camp, and abuses that power any chance that he gets, he shows himself to be nothing more than a pigeon of the warden. The warden, in a story-line that I really like being given to a woman, is played by Sigourney Weaver. She is using the kids to dig the wholes for a singular purpose, but she will not let on why she is doing it. Instead, she rewards any kid who finds something out in the holes with a day off from digging and extra shower privileges.


Out in the desert, it is not easy to dig holes, and a majority of the day is spent by Stanley digging these wholes with his fellow inmates. Within his circle, he gets to know several with nicknames such as X-Ray, Armpit, Squid, Magnet, Zigzag, and Twitch. All of them have names that fit their attitudes or bodies, and soon the group gives Stanley the name of "Caveman." One additional inmate that befriends Stanley goes by the name Zero. He is the youngest member of the group, and also the smallest, but seems to see Stanley as sort of a father figure. He is also looked down upon by the camp doctor who claims that he is "so stupid that he doesn't even know he is stupid." The kid seems to have had a rough life, and leans on Stanley to help him get through the hard days in the sun.


The great thing about this movie, is that while the main story involving Stanley is going on, we are constantly treated to flash-backs of the 1800's West. In those flashbacks we start with Stanley's ancestor in another country, who ends up being cursed for not fulfilling a promise to an old woman. The curse is put on his family to last for all of eternity because of what he has done. Coming to America, the bad-luck of his family continues, and the family curse is passed down through the generations. In addition to those 2 stories, there is one more that involves a school teacher named Kate Barlow in the West. Kate teaches at an old school-house that is in need of lots of repairs, and a man named Sam offers to fix the roof and then the windows of the school in exchange for some of the peaches that she makes.


Kate is played by Patricia Arquette, and Sam is played by Dule' Hill, who has been starring on The West Wing as the Presidents Aid. Together they are part of a sequence of scenes that helps show what the times were like in the late 1800's, and what the societal climate was in the United States. It helps to show why some of the things happened, and gives us a back-story as to why Camp Green Lake is now a desert rather than the lush green oasis that it once was. By inter-twining all of these stories, and having several plots going on at the same time, it is very important to watch the whole movie and not miss any scene, or group of scenes. I can understand how someone could get lost and then not know where the movie is going.


With all of these stories taking place, we still have Stanley back at the camp, who one day discovers something in the hole he is digging. None of the kids knows what it is, but the warden seems very excited about finding it, and makes a big deal about rewarding the kid who takes credit for it, and then making sure to dig many deeper and wider around the area where it was discovered. But, because someone other than Stanley takes credit for it, they do not start digging in his sport, but rather at the other kids hole. Days are spent digging in these other holes, and tensions rise in the desert heat. Soon you can see the true nature of what the people running the camp are doing, and there does not seem to be any way to stop them.


Holes is based on a now famous, award-winning novel by Louis Sachar. Everyone I know that has read it enjoyed it very much, and I had not before I saw the movie. Though I had not read it, I was not at any kind of a disadvantage though, as I kept up with the twists and turns of the story unfolding in front of me. Those who have read and watched the movie tell me that the book goes more in-depth will all of the events, and that the movie does a great job in sticking with the themes of the story. I really enjoyed watching the film, and had gone into it with the assumption that it was a story for kids. That could not be further from the truth, and we find out that even though the story is about kids, everything about the film is geared towards an adult audience.


Great acting performances are put in by Shia and Dule' Hill are very well done, and they bring great attitudes to the screen. They are both very new to major motion pictures, but it does not show at all in their roles. This is one of those movies that really dives into making sure we understand every character, and that every main detail within the film is explained to us by the end. However, the thing that I think it did best, was allow us to come to our own conclusions about why some of the characters did the things that they did. This gives us a story, but also lets our imagination take part in the story-telling as well. I highly recommend this film as one to see if you like a good story. Sometimes the flashbacks can get a little confusing when they disrupt the flow of the story, but it helps out the audience when the film nears its end. I think that fans of all genres will enjoy this film, and that it is one that offers something to everyone.






Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups