Guest Blogger: Lindsey

One of my all time favorite movie is Holes. The movie Holes was released in 2003 from the director Andrew Davis. This movie was based off of the book “Holes” written by Louis Sachar. I like this movie so much because it’s almost identically to the book, and you don’t find that very often. The movie starts off with a teenage boy named Stanley Yelnats getting accused of stealing a pair of shoes. He gets sent to a juvenile correctional center out on Camp Green Lake. Camp Green Lake is an all male correctional center in the middle of a dessert. At Camp Green Lake, Stanley meets a few friends named Zero, Magnet, X-Ray, ZigZag, Squid, and Armpit. Each day at Camp Green Lake, the juveniles have to wake up at the crack of dawn and begin digging. They have to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet wide. The juveniles dig because they were told that it builds character but in reality The Warden is looking for a treasure. The Warden has been searching for this treasure since she was a child and she isn’t going to giving up. Throughout the movie, Stanley and Zero become very close friends. Stanley teaches Zero how to read and write, and Zero helps Stanley dig the holes. Stanley and Zero both figure out that their family members new each other in the past, which then helps them out later in the movie. In this movie, Shia LaBeouf plays the character Stanley Yelnats. I think Shia LaBeouf did an excellent job playing the role of Stanley. I think he fit the role perfectly since he was young and had previous acting experience. With the previous acting experience he could act in a variety of emotions and make it seem real not fake. A few character traits of Stanley are that he doesn’t give up, works hard, and is caring. Stanley doesn’t give up on Zero when he is struggling with his reading and writing. Stanley works hard digging holes each day. Also, Stanley is very caring because he listens to Zero when he talks about his mother being gone. Stanley’s motivation throughout this movie is to work hard, obey The Warden, and get home as soon as possible. Another actress named Sigourney Weaver played the role of The Warden. I was impressed with Sigourney because I have never seen her act before. I think she did a great job playing the part of The Warden because she seemed very into and looked the part. A few character traits of The Warden are stern, determined, and mysterious. She fits the role of being stern because she makes the juveniles dig the holes every day even if it is 100 degrees out. The Warden is very determined because she has been looking for the treasure since she was a young girl and now she looks as if she could be forty years old. The Warden also is mysterious because she doesn’t tell the juveniles the true reason why they are digging holes. The Wardens motivation throughout the movie is to find the treasure. She will do absolutely anything to find the treasure. A few themes of this movie are bad luck can turn into good luck, building friendships, and working hard. I picked bad luck can turn into good luck because Stanley’s family has always had bad luck until the end of the movie. I picked building friendships because Stanley learns the importance of having friends in this movie. I also picked working hard because all the juveniles worked hard each day. I read a review from one critic that said the movie Holes; “Is a great family movie, with a terrifically empathetic young hero, strong messages about the powers of family, love and friendship, buried treasure and enough action to keep the little ones from getting bored.” I completely agree with this critic. This movie is family friendly since there isn’t any swearing, it shows the importance of building friendships through Stanley and Zero, has the strong message of not giving up, and it has a lot of action in it by looking for the treasure! Overall, I think that this movie is definitely worth watching and even buying. I’ve seen this movie over five times and I never get sick of it! My parents and siblings both enjoy watching this movie, so it fits the eye of a variety of ages. If you don’t watch this movie then you’re definitely missing out!