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Holes (film)

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Holes
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrew Davis
Written byScreenplay:
Louis Sachar
Novel:
Louis Sachar
Produced byAndrew Davis
Lowell D. Blank
Teresa Tucker-Davies
StarringShia LaBeouf
Jon Voight
Khleo Thomas
Tim Blake Nelson
Sigourney Weaver
Byron Cotton
Patricia Arquette
Dulé Hill
Henry Winkler
Nate Davis
Eartha Kitt
CinematographyStephen St. John
Edited byThomas J. Nordberg
Music byJoel McNeely
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures
Release dates
April 18, 2003
Running time
117 minutes
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$20 million

Holes is a 2003 film based on the novel of the same title by Louis Sachar, who also wrote the screenplay, with Shia LaBeouf as the lead role of Stanley Yelnats. The film was produced by Walden Media and released by Walt Disney Pictures.

This film was rated PG by the MPAA for "violence, mild language and some thematic elements".

Plot summary

Stanley Yelnats IV(Shia LaBeouf) is an unpopular teen who lives in an apartment with his entrepreneur father (Henry Winkler), mother (Siobhan Fallon Hogan), and grandfather (Nathan Davis). The family, while rich in spirit, has no luck at all. They believe this was caused when their ancestor Elya Yelnats tried to win the hand of the lovely (but stupid) Myra Menke. A mystic-woman, named Madame Zeroni helps him, and in turn, Elya promised to carry Madame Zeroni up a mountain to the river and sing to her as she drinks the magic, fortifying water of the mountain. Madame Zeroni threatened Elya that if he broke the promise, his family would be cursed for generations. Elya breaks (forgets) his promise, and the Yelnats of the present believe this is the cause of their bad luck. This bad luck continues when a pair of shoes fall from the sky and hit Stanley. The police then arrest him, because they were valuable shoes donated to a charity by Clyde "Sweetfeet" Livingston, a famous baseball player known for his speed, and they assume he was the one that stole them. Given the choice of going to prison or Camp Greenlake,(juvenile detention camp). Stanley chooses the latter. He arrives to find the "camp" is a dried-up desert where the boys there must dig a hole every day to "build character". The camp is run by the Warden (Sigourney Weaver), Mr. Sir (Jon Voight), and counselor Dr. Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson).

Many years prior, in contrast to today, the lake is full of water and has a small town nearby. The lake is owned by Charles "Trout" Walker (Scott Plank), an arrogant man who tries to unsuccessfully court the lovely schoolteacher, Katherine Barlow (Patricia Arquette). Instead, she gravitates to Sam, African-American, the "onion man" (Dule Hill), who is famous for using onions as a cure-all, as well as a repellent for the dangerous yellow-spotted lizards, which plague the area. Paying him with her famous spiced peaches, Katherine accepts Sam's offers to fix things in her schoolhouse, to be near her. When everything is fixed, she tells him that her heart is broken and he kisses her "to fix it." The townspeople kill Sam in rage because Sam is a different race and because the lake's owner wants her, out on the lake, under Walker's leadership. Furious, Katherine kills the sheriff (Eric Pierpoint) and becomes an outlaw called "Kissin' Kate Barlow" (so known because she kisses the men she kills). One of the people she robbed was the first Stanley Yelnats, whom she left to die in the desert. Instead, he climbed a mountain and found water and food, in a place called, 'The Thumb of God'. Kate died, inviting a lizard to bite her, when threatened by Charles Walker and his wife, Linda (one of Kate's former students), who believe that she buried her loot in the lake, which dried up after Sam was shot. She responds by letting the poisonous lizard bite her, then tells them that no matter how much they dig throughout the years, neither Walker, or his future generations will ever find it.

In the present day, Stanley slowly gains the respect of his fellow diggers. When he finds what appears to be a golden bullet casing and sees the fuss the Warden makes over it, he begins to suspect that they are digging holes to actually find something. Meanwhile, he begins to teach Hector Zeroni (Zero) (Khleo Thomas), a lonely boy at the camp, how to read and write, in exchange for Zero digging most of Stanley's holes. When Stanley gets into a fight with Ricky (Zig-Zag)), Hector saves Stanley by choking Ricky almost to death. The other boys, resentful of Stanley's shirking of his hole-digging, reveal Hector and Stanley's arrangement. Dr. Pendanski begin to insult Hector's intelligence, giving Hector a shovel and asking him what d-i-g spells. Hector hits Dr. Pendanski across the face with the shovel, snaps "dig" at him, and runs into the desert.

Later, as Mr. Sir is filling water bottles, two of the boys stage a fight. While Mr. Sir breaks up the fight, Stanley steals his truck with the intent of finding Hector, only to drive into one of the holes. Continuing on foot, Stanley eventually finds Hector in an overturned boat (actually the wreckage of Sam's boat) subsisting on what Hector dubs "sploosh," a jarred food that tastes like peaches (most likely Miss Katherine's spiced peaches). While there Hector reveals that he was the one that stole "Sweefeet's" donated shoes, but as the police closed in he threw them off the a bridge. The two climb the same mountain that Stanley's ancestor climbed, hoping to find the source of water that saved Stanley Yelnats I. Along the way, Hector becomes ill, needing Stanley to carry him up the mountain. At the top, the two find water and onions (most likely Sam's old garden). Stanley, relieved at their salvation, sings to Hector as the latter drinks. This breaks the Yelnats' curse (Stanley carrying Hector Zeroni up the mountain symbolizes Elya carrying Madame Zeroni.) Presumably at the same time, Stanley's father discovers his long-sought cure for foot odor, using peaches and onions, implying that the curse has been broken. Stanley and Hector return to the camp to dig where the lipstick was found. They work through out the night and find a chest. Unfortunately, they are trapped by the Warden, Mr. Sir, Dr. Pendanski and a nest of the poisonous lizards. The lizards do not attack due to the boys' consumption of onions and they are rescued by Stanley's lawyer. She takes Stanley, Hector, and the chest home. The chest holds Kate's loot, and it is revealed that the Warden - Ms. Walker - is Charles' great-granddaughter, the camp is a legal sham, and both her employees are criminals. When the camp is shut down, it begins to rain again over Camp Greenlake, after many decades of drought attributed to Sam's murder. Using the money, the Yelnats family moves into a house with yard and pool, and Hector is able to find his mother. At the end, Stanley and Hector's families, the boys of D-Tent, "SweetFeet", and his wife are seen having a party at the Yelnats' new house. A commercial for "Sploosh" (Stanley's father's cure for foot odor) is aired, featuring the Livingstons, and the house erupts in laughter as the credits roll.

Box office and critical reception

The movie made a US$ 71 million at the box office against a modest $20 million budget, making the film at least a moderate financial success. It was consistently lauded as an excellent movie, because of its strong plot, deep characters, and family friendliness. It received a 77% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Musical soundtrack

File:Holes soundtrack.jpg

One of the most appealing facets to the movie (particularly to the kid audiences) was 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 was exceptionally popular with child viewers and 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 movie's score was written by the famous Hollywood composer, Joel McNeely.

Differences from the book

Although the movie is very much like the book, there are some differences. It should be noted that Louis Sachar, who wrote the novel, also wrote the screenplay.

  • In the book, Stanley is overweight and loses weight during the course of the book. However, in the film he is of average weight throughout the entire film. Many of the issues in the book stemmed from Stanley looking down on himself for being overweight. However, in the bonus features on the DVD, it is explained that global issues forced this change.
  • It says in the book that Camp Green Lake does not have any plant life except the two tall trees next to the Warden's cabin. In the film, few plants (cacti) can be seen in the lake.
  • In the book, the water truck is red, but in the film, it's silver.
  • In the movie Mr. Sir saves Stanley when he shoots a lizard that was about to attack him.
  • In the book, Stanley's father was experimenting on how to recycle old sneakers, and the creation of the foot-odor cure was an accident. It is also unclear what was used to make the concoction. In the film, he only experiments on how to eliminate foot odor which he accomplishes using peaches and onions.
  • In the book, the motorboat collides with Sam's rowboat, whereupon Sam is shot in the water. Katherine is with him in the boat. In the movie, Katherine watches helplessly from land while Sam is alone in the boat, and he is shot by those in the motorboat, rather than their colliding with it. A final scene in this segment shows his boat floating alone in the water; he is presumably collapsed within it.
  • In the book, Armpit gets in trouble for going to the bathroom too often, in the movie he got in trouble for giving the Warden a stove knob he pretended to find.
  • In the book, Squid/Alan asks Stanley to tell his mom he's sorry; in the film, Armpit/Theodore asks the favor.
  • In the book, there is a different counselor for every tent; in the movie Dr. Pendanski seems to be the only counselor.
  • In the book, Kate Barlow returns to Green Lake and lives in a house alone for three months before being found by Trout Walker. They break into her house and search the house for the loot. They also tie up her hands and bare feet and subject her to torture to try to make her reveal the location of the money. There is a long time before she is bitten by the lizard. In the movie, she is simply seen lying against Sam's overturned boat (having a vision of him) when Trout and Linda Walker approach her demanding the money.
  • In the book, Kate Barlow does not commit suicide. Instead of picking up the yellow-spotted lizard, she simply accepts that it will bite her.
  • In the film, the second line of the pig verse is "the bark on the tree was as soft as the skies." In the book, originally, the second line was "the bark on the tree was just a little bit softer," but when Elya Yelnats came to America, his wife Sarah (who is not in the film, in which the backstory ends while he was on his ship to America), changes the line to "the bark in the tree was as soft as the skies" because the second verse only rhymed in Latvian, and not in English. Also, on the last page of the book, there is a second verse which was not mentioned in the movie.
  • The book segment about Stanley, Hector, and Stanley's lawyer in the car driving back to civilization does not appear in the film. Instead we cut directly from Camp Green Lake right to Stanley's family opening the trunk.
  • In the book, Elya Yelnats is friends with Madame Zeroni and spends time with her listening to her stories and sharing his thoughts. In the film, Elya is presented as seeking out "a fortune teller" to help him win over Myra Menke's heart, though they are shown as friendly.
  • In the book, when Stanley and Zero decide to return to Camp Green Lake and search for the treasure, the book describes them hiding in their respective holes for hours waiting for the camp to empty. In the movie, they arrive at the hole at night and get directly to work.
  • In the book when they return to camp Zero goes to get water and something to eat, but in the film he goes to get a shovel to help digging the hole.
  • In the book, Sam and Kate Barlow kiss while outside on a rainy day, and Hattie Parker (one of the townsfolk) sees them kiss while walking out of the General Store. In the film, they kiss in Katherine's schoolhouse and Trout Walker sees them kiss while riding on a horse by the schoolhouse.
  • In the film, Stanley and Zero become neighbors, which is not stated in the book although it is possible.
  • In the book, Louis Sachar clearly downplays the value of the contents of the trunk. He states that each family got a bit less than a million dollars after taxes - "though not much [less than a million]." In the movie, the value of the trunk is portrayed as being much higher. The individual bonds are valued at "millions" and we see at least four of them being handled (not counting the jewels and other items found in the trunk) making the trunk at least worth $20 million. Also in the book the trunk is described as a "suitcase," whereas in the film it is more like a chest.
  • In the deleted scenes on the DVD, Magnet is stabbed by the Warden with a pitchfork after leaving the site to go to the bathroom; in the book, it was Armpit.
  • In the book, it says that Stanley Yelnats I was left in the desert with no water or food for seventeen days, but in the movie, Stanley Yelnats II tells his grandson that it was sixteen days.
  • In the book, Sam says he will fix Ms. Katherine's schoolhouse roof in exchange for six jars of her spiced peaches. In the film, he fixes the roof for three.
  • In the film, when the attorneys arrive, they find out Mr. Sir is actually a paroled criminal named Marion Sevillo. He apparently committed a crime in El Paso and his possession of a gun is violating his parole.
  • The yellow-spotted lizards in the film are reddish in color (they were portrayed by bearded dragons, except when they were shot running on their hind legs, when they were CG) while in the book, the lizards are green-yellow with minuscule yellow spots.
  • In the book the Sheriff is in his office alone when he is killed but in the film he isn't (there were prisoners watching).
  • In the book, it is claimed that Mary Lou, Sam's mule, is around fifty years of age, but in the film, Sam says she is almost one hundred years old. In both cases, it appears to be a way of promoting the healthful qualities of his red onions.
  • In the film, the other boys are astounded that Zero talked to Stanley, but in the book, they aren't. Zero tended to talk more in the book.
  • In the book, it is said that the spots on the yellow spotted lizard are nearly invisible, but in the film the spots are clearly visible.
  • In the book, it says that Ms. Morengo drives a BMW, but she drives a Jaguar XJ in the film.
  • In the movie, the school house is destroyed in a different order then in the book.
  • In the film Mr. Pendanski claims to be "Dr. Pendanski."

Cast

Camp Green Lake

Yelnats' Home

Latvia

Old Camp Green Lake

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