Whenever a film starts using words such as legend, fate, curse and prophecy, you know they’re not just simple superstitions. Such is the case with Holes, which ties together various storylines that cover various generations without leaving any, well, holes.

Holes informs us of a curse that began with an ancestor of Stanley Yelnats (yeah, that’s right, it’s the same name backwards or forwards) who failed to carry a diviner up a mountain after being told to do so as a condition for help. The curse went upon all his lineage up to Stanley Yelnats the fourth.

In the present day, Stanley (Shia LaBeouf) is prosecuted for stealing a valuable pair of shoes and ends up in a youth camp led by Mr. Sir (Jon Voigt), a counselor (Tim Blake Nelson), and the warden (Sigourney Weaver). The camp has the boys digging 5X5 foot holes all over the desert looking for something, which Stanley is trying to figure out.

The story cleverly ties characters’ pasts together and makes the puzzle pieces fit together nicely. The comedy is frequently slapstick or amateurish, but is as is to be expected for a kid’s flick. Nelson and especially Voigt have a lot of fun taking their characters to the extremes and provide for the majority of the humor, and Weaver’s character is even fun too.

Holes is most successful in managing to tell an affecting story about the love and courage of Stanley and his friend. It’s heartwarming to see such friendship among young boys and really makes Holes a story worth watching.
  
 
 

Year:

 MPAA Rating: Running Time: Date Written:  
2003 PG 1:57 08/03  
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