Holes (film)
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| Holes | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover of Holes |
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| Directed by | Andrew Davis |
| Produced by | Andrew Davis Lowell D. Blank Teresa Tucker-Davies |
| Written by | Louis Sachar (novel & screenplay) |
| Starring | Shia LaBeouf Sigourney Weaver Jon Voight Tim Blake Nelson Khleo Thomas Byron Cotton |
| Music by | D-Tent Boys |
| Cinematography | Stephen St. John |
| Editing by | Thomas J. Nordberg |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 18, 2003 |
| Running time | 117 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$20 million |
| IMDb profile | |
Holes is a 2003 film based on the novel of the same title.
Contents |
[edit] Reception
The movie made a modest US$67 million at the box office. However, it was consistently lauded as an excellent movie, because of its strong plot, deep characters, and family friendliness. Its Rotten Tomatoes rating is 77%, well above the 60% needed to be considered "fresh". Many reviewers gave a thumbs-up because of how the movie stayed true to the spirit of the novel.
[edit] Musical score
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.
[edit] Differences from the book
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Although the movie is very like the book there are some differences:
- 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 continuity issues forced this change.
- The movie much more dramatically depicts the excavation efforts by the boys after the finding of Kate Barlow's lipstick tube. In the book, it is basically described as three holes being widened until they meet. In the movie, we see an entire network of huge trenches and dug walkways perhaps over six-feet-deep.
- Some early scenes when Stanley is at school are not in the movie; however, they are seen as deleted scenes on the DVD.
- In the book, the motorboat collides with Sam's rowboat and Sam is shot in the water, and 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 colliding with it. A final scene in this segment shows his boat floating alone in the water – he is presumably collapsed within it as we no longer see his figure.
- In the film, Mr. Sir (revealed to be named Marion Seville, which the campers find hilarious), "Dr." Pendanski (who is revealed by Mr. Sir to not be a doctor), and the Warden (who is apparently named "Lou" Walker, a descendant of Trout Walker) are arrested for the apparent unlawful confinement of Zero, which does not happen in the book. The camp is placed under investigation when it is discovered that "there seems to be no file of Hector Zeroni."
- In the book, Squid/Alan asks Stanley to tell his mom he's sorry but in the film it's Armpit/Theodore who asks the favor.
- In the book, there is a counselor for every tent; in the movie Mr. Pendanski seems to be a counselor for every tent.
- 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 subject her to torture to try to make her reveal the location of the money. It is actually quite some time before she is bit 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. She plays dumb ("There ain't no loot.") and knows that they won't be able to find the treasure on their own ("Go ahead, kill me; the lake goes on for miles.") Only a minute or so after encountering Trout, Kate grabs a yellow-spotted lizard and uses its fatal bite to commit suicide.
- 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 also 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.
- 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 15 when he falls in love with Myra Menke. In the film his age is unknown, but it appears he is about 25-30.
- In the book, Madame Zeroni is friends with Elya Yelnats, but it is not revealed in the movie.
- In the book, when Stanley and Zero decide to return to Camp Green Lake and search themselves 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 right to work.
- 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 and watches through the window.
- In the film, Stanley and Zero become neighbors, which is not stated in the book.
- 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 and such- "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, this not counting the jewels and other items found in the trunk.
[edit] Cast
Camp Green Lake
- Sigourney Weaver ... The Warden
- Jon Voight ... Mr. Sir
- Tim Blake Nelson ... Dr. Pendanski
- Shia LaBeouf ... Stanley
- Khleo Thomas ... Zero
- Jake M. Smith ... Squid
- Byron Cotton ... Armpit
- Brendan Jefferson ... X-Ray
- Miguel Castro ... Magnet
- Max Kasch ... ZigZag
- Noah Poletiek ... Twitch
- Zane Holtz ... Barfbag
- Steve Koslowski ... Lump
- Ski Carr ... Guard
- Jim Wilkie ... Bus driver
- Roma Maffia ... Carla Morengo
- Ray Baker ... Asst. Attorney General
- Alex Daniels, Tom Brainard ... Texas Rangers
- Haleigh Ann Trickett ... Young Warden
Yelnats' Home
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan ... Stanley's mother
- Henry Winkler ... Stanley's father
- Nathan Davis ... Grandfather
- Rick Worthy ... Male officer
- Mary Jo Mecca ... Female officer
- Shelley Malil ... Nosy landlord
- Rick Fox ... Clyde "Sweetfeet" Livingston
- Nicole Pulliam ... Mrs. Sweetfeet
- Michael Cavanaugh ... Judge
- Bruce Ramsay ... Prosecutor
- Shirley Butler ... Mrs. Zeroni
- Conrad Palmisano ... Private investigator
Latvia
- Eartha Kitt ... Madame Zeroni
- Damien Luvara ... Elya Yelnats
- Sanja Mateyas ... Myra Menke
- Ravil Isyanov ... Morris Menke
- Ken Davitian ... Igor Barkov
Old Green Lake
- Patricia Arquette ... "Kissin' Kate Barlow
- Scott Plank ... Trout Walker
- Dulé Hill ... Sam
- Allan Kolman ... Stanley the 1st
- Louis Sachar ... Mr. Collingwood
- Eric Peirpoint ... Sheriff
- Brian Peck ... Townsman in classroom
- Melissa Mitchell ... Young Linda
- Allison Smith ... Linda
- Brooke Eby ... School kid
- Gary Bullock ... Prospector
- Jeff Ricketts ... Partner
- Paul Norwood ... Doc
- Benny Manning ... Stage coach driver
- Jim Wilkey ... Kissed stage coach driver
- Julian Reed Davis ... Prisoner in Green Lake Jail
