Viewed in
2013
Formats
HDTV
Premise
Shia LaBeouf stars as a juvenile delinquent sentenced to a detention camp where the teens are forced to dig holes.
Liked
Risk-taking story-telling, strong cast.
Disliked
Disorienting start.
Thoughts
What a weird fairy tale of a movie.
The start of the film was disorienting, with its collections of (seemingly) random flashbacks, but once you treat the story as a fable, everything made a lot more sense. As the themes of curses, sins of the (great-great-grand) father, friendship, and onions became clear, all the layers of flashback-backstories began to payoff, culminating in a satisfactory and tender ending.
Watching it now, you could see what Hollywood studios saw in LaBeouf as a promising lead actor, with strong acting and charisma. His chemistry with Khleo Thomas, as the sidekick, was very enjoyable. Meanwhile, the ridiculously deep adult cast included fun offbeat performances from Sigourney Weaver, fat Jon Voight, Eartha Kitt, wiry Tim Blake Nelson, Henry Winkler(!), Patricia Arquette, the black dude from Psyche, Rick Fox, and Siobhan Fallon from Men in Black.
Throughout most of the film, I was skeptical that kids would enjoy this movie, even though it was marketed/listed as a family film. I wondered if the detention camp stuff and non-linear stories would confuse them. But once I found out this came from Louis Sachar, author of the bizarrer Sideways Stories From Wayside School, things made sense again. It's definitely not for younger kids, but I could see it resonating with older kids.
Overall, Holes can test your patience, but for adults and teens, I recommend this unique, poetic, unusual little gem.
