Holes (2003)
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Holes Movie Review
Holes is a 2003 family adventure film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Shia LaBeouf. It’s one of the best live-action family movies.
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“I’m not stupid, I know everyone thinks I am,
I just don’t like answering stupid questions“
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The story is so good. It’s basically a modern fairy tale as it’s so charming, endearing and mythical/mysterious that it so pleasantly reminded me of fairy tales, but it’s an original, newer story so that was even more impressive that it felt that timeless. I found the film’s approach at telling a story superb as it mixes history with the present.
And I really liked those historical pieces with Patricia Arquette’s Kissin’ Kate being such a great figure for the story. I loved her romance with Sam as it was so wonderful and her being a cowgirl was terrific. The movie is very progressive in its female and black characters. But I wanted more from Stanley’s relatives in those history parts.
Jon Voight and Sigourney Weaver are so good in this film and they should have done more family comedies as they’re so good at it. He’s very funny and the provider of the best slapstick humor in the film whereas she is refreshingly a negative character here and she was great with her “Excuse me?” line getting me every time. Tim Blake Nelson is in comparison to them much weaker.
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Shia LaBeouf here proved that he’s actually a good actor or that he at least had potential which he later on wasted with poor career choices. He’s so good as Stanley Yelnats and I adored his relationship with Zero who’s such a fun, interesting and very endearing kid. Khleo Thomas is so good as Zero that it’s a shame that he never had a bigger career later on. Stanley’s parents are fun, but the other boys in the camp were overly cruel toward Stanley and typical in that way so I didn’t really like either of them. And they all got away unpunished which troubled me.
Holes is gorgeously shot and I loved the desert setting and how well it was utilized into the story. The historical parts also featured very strong costumes and an old-fashioned feel to them. The editing and pacing are great too as the film is riveting and highly entertaining throughout. I was invested in each and every scene despite some being obviously better than others.
Speaking of the scenes, my favorites include that beginning, the twist ending is so interesting, the oasis is phenomenal, I loved the role of the lizards and of course the historical parts were so charming and well crafted. I just wish the ending wasn’t as triumphant and as unrealistic in the boys’ reunion and sudden appreciation for one another, but still Zero’s reunion with his mother was so heartwarming.
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Holes features solid acting performances across the board while the score is also terrific with Dig It being so fun and entertaining. It’s one of the rare hip-hop soundtracks which I actually really liked. And the humor is actually terrific with some lines of dialogue being so funny and most of the excessive slapstick actually being a lot of fun. The movie is awesome for kids and although I liked it before as a kid much more than now as an adult, I still enjoyed this movie so much and I still deem it to be one of Disney’s finest live-action movies.
Holes is one of Disney’s finest live-action films thanks to strong character development, a terrific modern fairy tale feel to it, great cinematography, cool score and such a good humor. It features many memorable scenes, a very well crafted storyline both in its present and historical parts and it succeeds as a spirited, very entertaining, timeless adventure.
