Holes

One of the few recent movies I have seen that plunged me into that rare, giddy state of pleasurable confusion, of not knowing what would happen next, which I associate with the reading and moviegoing experiences of my own childhood. But there is no reason that children should have a monopoly on this primal, wonderful experience.

Every scene of Holes is risky since it avoids easy answers and exposes some uncomfortable truths about the justice system.

Brims with storytelling flourishes and gently deployed life lessons that even accompanying adults may dig

Frankly, I'm shocked that Disney, frequent purveyor of sleeping beauties and singing animated animals, is the studio behind this wonderfully black comedy/morality tale for children, but maybe Disney, too, saw past the material's deliciously macabre bent to find also a thrilling little essay on friendship, fate, and the restorative powers of onions.

Overall, there is a lot of flip-flopping between stories, sometimes jumping back and forth more frantically than an episode of "Seinfeld."

Suffers even more than the Harry Potter films from a compulsion to be faithful to the source material, including cramming in a head-spinning assortment of characters and subplots.

Fails to be anything special. It makes passable preteen entertainment but comes off as clunky and heavy-handed in most of the places it should be graceful and enchanting.

What a faithful and delightful adaptation of an involving and adventurous children's novel of the same name. This is imaginative, intelligent family entertainment showing a powerful portrayal of discrimination, love, friendship and a truly happy ending. The films plot, cast, themes and symbolism stick very well to the book. The director also chose a great cast and he even filmed it in the deserts of Texas. Louis Sachar himself also supported the film by writing the screenplay. There is truly a very moving, adventurous and interesting plot in the movie as there is in the book. I read the book and I liked it as well as the movie.

This is the magic of Disney and the kind of films they should be focusing on. Not only is it a great old story, brought to life on the big screen, but it's got one hell of a cast. The young stars in this movie turned out to be much better off working on a film like this, rather than some ridiculous singing and dancing nightmare, that would have tight cast them. Shia LaBeouf is great as a troubled kid sent away to a work camp, where they uncover a hidden secret. Surprisingly thou, it's newcomer Khleo Thomas who steals the show. His story and background are so sad and he plays it so well, that you just want to hug him every time he opens his mouth. Veterans John Voigt and Sigourney Weaver bring experience to the film and really give the kids a strong example to follow now and in the future. Overall, this is one of the best Disney movies I've ever seen, doing justice in bringing life to a great novel. I wish more of their films were like this!

Pretty decent little film with good humour and performances. Light entertainment.

Even though the movie is so strange that it cannot really be classed as a children's film anymore, it does not really appeal to adults either. And even though there are some really great characters in the story performed by a wonderful cast and it is directed aptly, it did very little for me.

Railroaded into a sort of kids' concentration camp over a pair of missing baseball cleats, a very young Shia Labeouf indiscriminately digs pits in the desert all day, suffering ridicule at the hands of counselors and campers alike. The big lie is that this kind of hard labor builds character for troubled youths, but in reality it's just a cut-rate treasure hunt that pits the kids against each other, their supervisors and the world at large. With maybe one or two exceptions, everyone in this film is a jerk. Those who aren't needlessly cruel are functionally inept. Even Labeouf's bashful lead character eventually lets the stress and grimy heat get to him, lashing out at the only kid lower on the totem pole before eventually, grudgingly, making amends. There's a flashback story about a wild west outlaw and a lost cache of some sort, a dual tragedy that coincidentally connects primary characters through a set of crossed bloodlines, but that subplot is eye-roll bad, both in terms of writing and production. I can remember after-school specials with more conviction. I'm not sure how this thing drew such a recognizable cast, either. Jon Voight plays up a thick cowboy accent as the meanest of the adults; the only memorable performance of the bunch. Sigourney Weaver pops in to ruffle feathers and look grouchy, but her role is superfluous and shallow. Henry Winkler gets about five minutes to putz around as Shia's scatterbrained father. Patricia Arquette appears in the old western scenes, plodding through an absurdly hammy interracial relationship before going rogue and riding off into the sunset. The plot just doesn't produce much more than a cascade of punishment with limited retribution. It's an effort that obviously wants to be quirky and playful, amusing the kids while teaching important life lessons, but doesn't seem capable enough to pull it off.