Review of Holes (2003) by Amy H — 04 Sep 2010

The potential for "Holes" to be a much better film is certainly there. But under the Walt Disney Pictures banner, the edgier part of the story has been toned down to make way for a more family friendly fare. In the film, the adults play the comical characters to serve as comic relief for the filmâ??s more serious themes including racism, literacy, family relations, fate and greed. Depending on how one looks at it, this particular choice in storytelling may or may not work.

There is no doubt however, that the film could have made a bigger impact on adults. However, since the filmâ??s primary target audience is pre-teens to young teenagers; it may have just about achieved the right mix. So while a less edgy tone is taken by director Andrew Davies ("The Fugitive"), the film is filled with an aura of optimism and intelligence.

Based on Louis Sacharâ??s 1998 novel of the same name, "Holes" tells the story of a teenager wrongly accused of a crime who is sent to a Texas boot camp. There, the kids are forced to dig holes in a desert as a "character building experience". Soon the kids find out the truth behind all the excavating. The adults are played by Sigourney Weaver as the warden, Jon Voight and Tim Blake Nelson as her henchmen, Henry Winkler and Patricia Arquette, among others. There is also a cameo by no other than Eartha Kitt.

The two young primary actors playing the kids are Shia LaBeouf as Stanley and Khleo Thomas as Zero. Both exude a level of confidence in their respective roles.

As a film aimed at young kids, "Holes" is better than other films in recent memory where the emphasis have been on bathroom humor rather than on serious moral issues.