Holes (film)

Holes is a 2003 American adventure comedy-drama film directed by Andrew Davis, and based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Louis Sachar (who also wrote the screenplay).

The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson and Shia LaBeouf. The film was co produced by Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures and distributed in many markets by Disney's distribution company Buena Vista.

Holes was released in the United States on April 18, 2003, and earned $71.4 million worldwide. It was later released on DVD and VHS on September 23, 2003, by Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Walt Disney Home Entertainment. The film is dedicated to Scott Plank, who died in a car accident six months before the film's release.

Plot
Teenager Stanley Yelnats IV lives in Texas with his family, who have been cursed to be unlucky – a misfortune they blame on their ancestor Elya's failure to keep a promise to a fortune teller years ago in Latvia. One day, Stanley is falsely arrested for stealing a pair of sneakers that were donated to charity by a famous baseball player. Upon conviction, Stanley decides to attend Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp, in lieu of serving his time in jail.

He arrives to find that the camp is a dried up lake run by the warden, Louise Walker, her assistant Mr. Sir, and camp counselor Dr. Kiowa Pendanski. Prisoners, who are known by their nicknames – Zero, Armpit, Zig-Zag, Squid, X-Ray, and Magnet – spend each day digging holes in the desert; they may earn a day off if the inmates find anything interesting. After finding a golden lipstick tube initialed K.B. and a fossil, Stanley is accepted into the group and is given the nickname Caveman.

After taking the blame for Magnet's stealing of Mr. Sir's sunflower seeds, Stanley is taken to the warden's house where old wanted posters and newspapers lead him to suspect that "KB" stands for Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow, a school teacher turned outlaw from the past. Walker asks Stanley to grab her box of nail polish and mentions that it contains rattlesnake venom. After he and Mr. Sir explain what happened with the sunflower seeds, Walker injures Mr. Sir and allows Stanley to return to his hole.

Camp Green Lake's history is revealed in a series of flashbacks throughout the film. In the 19th century, Green Lake is a flourishing lakeside community. Kate is involved in a love triangle with the wealthy Charles "Trout" Walker, whom Kate rejects, and an African-American onion seller named Sam, whom Kate loves. One night, after much turmoil, Walker kills Sam and in retaliation, Kate kills the local sheriff and becomes an outlaw; at one point, she steals Elya's son Stanley's chest. Twenty years later, the now bankrupt Walkers track down Kate and demand she hand over her treasure. Kate refuses and tells them to dig for the treasure, after which Kate dies from a lizard bite and the Walkers set about digging for the treasure. In the present, when Pendanski mocks Zero, who is actually Hector Zeroni, the latter hits Pendanski with a shovel and runs off. After some deliberation, Stanley searches for Hector. The pair have difficulty surviving in the desert without water. Eventually, Stanley carries the now ill Hector up the mountain where they find a wild field of onions and a source of water, helping them regain strength; at the same time, Stanley unknowingly fulfills his ancestor's promise to the fortune teller and breaks the curse. While camping on the mountain, Stanley discovers that Hector stole the sneakers and threw them over the bridge to evade the police.

Returning to the camp, Stanley and Hector investigate the hole where Stanley found the lipstick and discover a chest before they are discovered by Walker, Mr. Sir, and Pendanski. They soon realize that Walker, who Charles Walker is an ancestor of, is using the inmates to search for his treasure.

The next morning, the attorney general and Stanley's lawyer arrive, accompanied by police officers; the chest Stanley found is discovered to belong to his great grandfather before it was stolen by Kate. Walker; Mr. Sir, who is revealed to be a paroled criminal named Marion Sevillo; and Pendanski, who is a criminal impersonating a doctor, are arrested. Stanley and Zero are released and it rains in Green Lake for the first time in over 100 years. The Yelnats family claims ownership of the chest which contains jewels, deeds, and promissory notes, which they share with Hector, and both families live a life of financial ease as neighbors.

Cast

 * Sigourney Weaver as Louise Walker the Warden
 * Jon Voight as Marion Sevillo "Mr. Sir"
 * Patricia Arquette as Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow
 * Tim Blake Nelson as Dr. Kiowa "Mom" Pendanski
 * Shia LaBeouf as Stanley "Caveman" Yelnats IV
 * Khleo Thomas as Hector "Zero" Zeroni
 * Brenden Jefferson as Rex "X-Ray"
 * Jake M. Smith as Alan "Squid"
 * Byron Cotton as Theodore "Armpit"
 * Miguel Castro as José "Magnet"
 * Max Kasch as Ricky "Zigzag"
 * Dulé Hill as Sam the Onion Man
 * Henry Winkler as Stanley Yelnats III
 * Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Tiffany Yelnats
 * Nathan Davis as Stanley Yelnats II
 * Noah Poletiek as Brian "Twitch"
 * Rick Fox as Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston
 * Scott Plank as Charles "Trout" Walker
 * Eartha Kitt as Madame Zeroni
 * Roma Maffia as Atty. Carla Morengo
 * Zane Holtz as Louis "Barf Bag"
 * Shelley Malil as the Yelnats' Landlord
 * Damien Luvara as Elya Yelnats
 * Sanya Mateyas as Myra Menke
 * Ravil Isyanov as Morris Menke
 * Ken Davitian as Igor Barkov
 * Steve Koslowski as Lump
 * Michael Cavanaugh as Judge Austin Gorg

Production
Holes was filmed in California in the summer of 2002, and produced with a budget of $20 million.

When looking for a child actor to play the role of Stanley Yelnats, director Andrew Davis asked for a boy who was like "A young Tom Hanks". Shia LaBeouf, who ended up receiving the role for Stanley, got his sense of the character from reading the film's script, going on to read the original novel after getting the role. LaBeouf was simultaneously doing work for the Disney Channel show Even Stevens, and would work on his role in the film after doing his filming on Even Stevens. In the original book, Stanley is depicted as being obese, shedding considerable amounts of weight as the book progresses; however, the filmmakers chose to drop this aspect from the movie, as it would've been difficult to convincingly portray the loss of weight in a live-action film.

The film was shot in several locations, including in Ridgecrest, California. Due to the excessive heat levels and strong climate in Ridgecrest, the actors went through physical training with a stunt guide in order to keep in shape for long periods of filming. The movie's filming was a new experience for many of the child actors, particularly for LaBeouf, who had never done filming in such an unpredictable climate before. To show the 7 kids' holes being dug gradually throughout the day, different "phases" were used, for each of which the 7 holes were given different levels of deepness. For the yellow-spotted lizards, 14 Australian Bearded Dragons were used, 4 of which were used for the main parts and the rest of which were used as "background atmosphere lizards".

Release
The film was released theatrically on April 18, 2003, by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution and was released on DVD and VHS on September 23, 2003, by Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Walt Disney Home Entertainment.

Music
The film's music which included the Grammy winning single "Just Like You" by Keb Mo', and "Dig It" by The D Tent Boys (the actors portraying the D Tent group inmates), which had a music video which played regularly on Disney Channel. The soundtrack also included contributions by Eels, Devin Thompson, Dr. John, Eagle Eye Cherry, Fiction Plane, Little Axe, Moby, North Mississippi Allstars, Pepe Deluxé, Shaggy, Stephanie Bentley, and Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps. The score was composed and conducted by Joel McNeely.


 * 1) "Dig It" – D-Tent Boys
 * 2) "Keep'n It Real" – Shaggy
 * 3) "Mighty Fine Blues" – Eels
 * 4) "Honey" – Moby
 * 5) "I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday" – Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps
 * 6) "Just Like You" – Keb' Mo'
 * 7) "Everybody Pass Me By" – Pepe Deluxé
 * 8) "I Will Survive" – Stephanie Bentley
 * 9) "Shake 'Em On Down" – North Mississippi Allstars
 * 10) "Don't Give Up" – Eagle Eye Cherry
 * 11) "Happy Dayz" – Devin Thompson
 * 12) "Let's Make A Better World" – Dr. John
 * 13) "If Only" – Fiction Plane
 * 14) "Eyes Down" – Eels
 * 15) "Down To The Valley" – Little Axe
 * 16) Versatile- WuTang Clan

Box office
Holes grossed $16.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing #2 at the box office behind Anger Management's second weekend. The film would go on to gross a domestic total of $67.4 million and an additional $4 million in international revenue, totaling $71.4 million at the box office, against a $20 million budget, making the film a moderate financial success. The film was released in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2003, and opened on #9.

Critical response
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 77% based on 133 reviews, with the site's consensus reading: "Faithful to its literary source, this is imaginative, intelligent family entertainment." On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film has a 71 out of 100 rating, based on reviews from 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote "Davis has always been a director with a strong visual sense, and the look of Holes has a noble, dusty loneliness. We feel we are actually in a limitless desert. The cinematographer, Stephen St. John, thinks big and frames his shots for an epic feel that adds weight to the story. I walked in expecting a movie for thirteensomethings, and walked out feeling challenged and satisfied. Curious, how much more grown up and sophisticated Holes is than Anger Management."