Holes (2003) 7/10

Starring : Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson, Dule Hill
Director : Andrew Davis
Running Time : 112 mins

Mistakenly accused of theft, partly thanks to a family curse, Stanley Yelnats (LaBeouf) is sent to a juvenile detention centre in the middle of the desert where he and his fellow detainees are expected to dig holes as a way of building characters, but Stanley and his friends soon discover that the reason behind the hole digging is actually related to an old local myth that claims that there is hidden treasure somewhere out amongst the sands.

I enjoyed this movie, in spite of its confusing narrative. For no immediately obvious reason, and without so much as a segue, the story keeps jumping back to the story of Kissin' Kate Barlow (played by Arquette), but soon enough it becomes clear where the narrative is going with the leaps. There are some pretty descent performances all round, and it's nice to see an original Disney movie for a change instead of a remake, even though it is still based on a book.

You’ll like this if you liked : City Slickers