Holes is a 2003 film based on the
novel of the same nameHoles is a Newbery Medal-winning novel by Louis Sachar. It was adapted into a screenplay for the 2003 film by Walt Disney Pictures. In 2006, Sachar published Small Steps, a companion novel featuring one of the characters from Holes.-Plot:...
by
Louis SacharLouis Sachar is an American author of children's books who is best known for the Sideways Stories From Wayside School book series and the 1998 novel Holes, for which Sachar won a National Book Award and the Newbery Medal...
, who also wrote the screenplay, with
Shia LaBeoufShia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...
as the lead role of Stanley Yelnats. The film was produced by
Walden MediaWalden Media is a children's film production and publishing company best known as the producers of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Its films are based on notable classic or award-winning children's literature, compelling biographies or historical events, documentaries and some original...
and released by
Walt Disney PicturesWalt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
.
Plot
Stanley Yelnats IV (LaBeouf), a timid boy supposedly affected by a family curse, has been wrongly accused of stealing baseball player Clyde Livingston shoes from a charity auction, and sentenced for eighteen months in Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention and correction facility where boys of similar age are forced to dig holes everyday to "build their character." There, Warden Walker (Weaver), real granddaughter of Trout Walker, is actually looking for a buried treasure that infamous outlaw Kathryn "Kissin' Kate" Barlow stole from Stanley's great grandfather. Years ago, Stanley's family got cursed by Hector 'Zero' Zeroni's (Thomas) ancestor, Madame Zeroni.
Zero eventually runs away after Dr. Pendanski insults him of his inability to read and write. Stanley, in search of him, later finds him in a tunnel dug underneath an abandoned rowboat bearing the name Mary Lou, the donkey of "Sam the onion man" over a century before. Zero had been living on jars of very old spiced peaches that he had found in the boat, which he named "Sploosh". Upon seeing a mountain resembling a human fist giving the
thumbs upA thumbs-up or thumbs-down is a common hand gesture achieved by a closed fist held with the thumb extended upward or downward in approval or disapproval, respectively...
sign, Stanley recalls the story of his ancestor Stanley Yelnats I finding "refuge on God's thumb"; whereupon Zero and Stanley climb in search of food and water. When they finally reach the Big Thumb, Zero becomes unconscious. Atop the mountain, Stanley discovers a field of onions, which they eat, and a pool of dirty water, which they drink. Stanley sings Zero the lullaby that he was taught and -since Zero is a descendant of Madame Zeroni the gypsy who cursed Stanley's family - the curse breaks.
The boys return to Camp Green Lake, and upon returning, Zero steals some water and food from the kitchens while Stanley looks for the buried treasure. At this they succeed, but are apprehended by the harsh warden, Mr. Pendanski and Mr. Sir, and become surrounded by a group of lethal vicious yellow-spotted lizards. Because the boys have consumed onions, the lizards don't bite them; but being surrounded by the staff. Unable to leave the hole they occupy, they remain in place until the next morning, during which an attorney of the Texas Attorney General arrives requesting Stanley's release. When the warden demands the treasure chest, Zero reveals the name Stanley Yelnats written on it, its contents being the jewels, deeds, stocks and promissory notes stolen from Stanley Yelnats I.
Protagonist Stanley IV then uses the bonds to buy a new house for his family, and Zero hires a team of investigators to find his missing mother; meanwhile, the drought at Green Lake is replaced by rainfall, as if in response to Stanley's fulfillment of his ancestor's promise. In a final-scene, Clyde Livingston, along with the Yelnats and Zeroni families, celebrates the success of Stanley's Father's antidote to foot odor, composed of preserved and fermented spiced peaches and named "Sploosh" by Zero. The warden is forced to sell Camp Green Lake to the state government, who turns it into a Girl Scout Camp, a coincidence since Mr. Sir, a head of the camp, told the campers that "this isn't a Girl Scout camp", referring to the backbreaking digging.
Cast
- Shia LaBeouf
Shia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...
as Stanley "Caveman" Yelnats IV
- Khleo Thomas as Hector "Zero" Zeroni
- Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
as Warden Walker
- Jon Voight
Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
as Mr. Sir / Marion Sevillo
- Patricia Arquette
Patricia T. Arquette is an American actress and director. She played the lead character in the supernatural drama series Medium for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series....
as Kathryn Barlow
- Tim Blake Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson is an American director, writer, singer, and actor.-Early life:Nelson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Ruth Kaiser Nelson, who is a noted social activist and philanthropist in Tulsa, and a geologist father...
as Mr. Pendanski
- Brenden Jefferson as X-Ray / Rex
- Jake M. Smith as Squid / Alan
- Byron Cotton as Armpit / Theodore
- Miguel Castro as Magnet / Jose
- Max Kasch
Joseph Maxwell "Max" Kasch is an American film and television actor. He is the brother to fellow actors Cody Kasch and Dylan Kasch. Max appeared in the 2003 film, Holes as Zig-zag...
as ZigZag / Ricky
- Noah Poletiek as Twitch
- Dulé Hill
Karim Dulé Hill is an American actor and tap dancer. He is best known for his roles as personal presidential aide Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series The West Wing, and as pharmaceutical salesman-private detective Burton "Gus" Guster on the USA Network television comedy-drama Psych...
as Sam
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Stanley's mother
- Henry Winkler
Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...
as Stanley Yelnats III
- Nathan Davis as Stanley Yelnats, Jr.
- Rick Fox
Ulrich Alexander "Rick" Fox is a Canadian television actor and retired professional basketball player who last played for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.-Early life:...
as Clyde Livingston
- Scott Plank
Scott Plank was an American film and television actor, best known for playing Nick Reardon on Melrose Place, and as Wiley Farrell on Air America.-Life & acting career:...
as Trout Walker
- Roma Maffia
Roma Maffia is an American actress.Maffia was born in Manhattan, New York of West Indian, English and German descent; her Italian surname derives from her stepfather....
as Rita Morengo
- Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
as Madame Zeroni, fortune teller
- Ray Baker
Ray Baker is an American theater, television and film actor. He is a long time character actor with over 100 credits on television and film alone. Baker is credited either as Ray or Raymond.-Selected filmography:...
as the assistant Attorney General
Reception
Holes received positive reviews from critics and audiences, currently holding a
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
approval rating of 77%.
External links