Holes (2003) Review

 Later this year, Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine's post-modern fairytale and winner of the 1999 Newberry Medal, is slated to come to the screen as a $38 million Miramax release directed by Tommy O'Haver (Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, Get Over It ) and starring Anne Hathaway (Nicholas Nickleby , The Princess Diaries ) and Hugh Dancy (Black Hawk Down , David Copperfield ).

Meanwhile, the winner of the 1998 Newberry Medal, Holes, by Louis Sachar, comes to life as a Disney Easter release with an even more impressive Hollywood pedigree. The PG-rated entry marks the first foray into the genre by action director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive , Chain Reaction , Collateral Damage ), and features an all-star supporting adult cast of Jon Voight , Sigourney Weaver , Henry Winkler , Eartha Kitt, Dule Hill, and Patricia Arquette.

Newcomer stars of Disney's film Holes (2003) (Courtesy of IMDB)

Just as Ella Enchanted is consistently ranked as the favorite book of American pre-teen females, Holes tops the list for young boys. And judging by a screening of the film that was full of members of this prime demographic, Holes is destined to meet with the approval of all those who have a well worn copy of the book on their bedside table.

Newcomer Shia Leboeuf stars as Stanley Yelnats, a mild-mannered Los Angeles kid whose parents and grandfather labor under the weight of a generations-old family curse. The bad luck soon envelops Stanley as well, when he is mistakenly accused of stealing a pair of running shoes belonging to basketball star Clyde "Sweetfeet" Livingston (L.A. Laker Rick Fox) and is shipped off to the desolate desert landscape of an all-male juvenile-detention facility to perform eighteen months of work service.

Camp Green Lake, named ironically after the lake that once covered its parched desert floor, is the very embodiment of a young boy's fantasy of a cool place to be forced to spend a year and half. Stanley and his young cohorts, who sport nicknames such as Squid, Armpit, and Zero, are forced to dig six-foot holes in the desert each day, under the watchful eyes of taskmaster Mr. Sir (Jon Voight) and the camp's mysterious warden (Sigourney Weaver).

As Stanley stumbles into a lizard-infested series of twists and turns that lead him to realize that the hole-obsessed encampment may have something to do with his own family curse, the novel's layered plot comes to life as a series of elaborate back-story flashbacks. The production is an awe-inspiring sight for fans of the book and is the kind of film that will inspire rapt silence rather than cheers and laughter.

From the moment he was signed by an agent in the San Fernando Valley in the mid 1990s, LaBoeuf has been tapped for big things. In addition to Holes and his Disney TV series Evens Stevens, the lanky, curly haired 16-year-old will be seen in the Charlie's Angels sequel and the Dumb and Dumber prequel, as well as a lead role in the HBO/Project Greenlight effort The Battle of Shaker Heights.

As Stanley's partner in crime, Zero, 14-year-old television-commercial star and pint-sized impressionist, Khleo Thomas is equally impressive with his own brand of unhurried and naturalistic acting. He was most recently seen on film in the Christmas release Friday After Next.

Parents should pay attention to the PG rating for the film. Although Voight's character never points his gun directly at any of his young charges, the film is full of other scary moments that would likely frighten anyone under the age of eight. These include the brutal deaths of two main flashback characters, an army of killer lizards, and a nasty quarrel between Mr. Sir and the warden.

Holes is a perfect father-son movie. Mothers and daughters will have to wait and hope that the summer release of Ella Enchanted isn't delayed until the fall or winter of next year, as has been rumored.