Holes (2003)

A wrongfully convicted boy is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he joins the job of digging holes for some mysterious reason.

Director:

Andrew Davis

Writers:

Louis Sachar (novel), Louis Sachar (screenplay)

Stars:

Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Tim Blake Nelson

3 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sigourney Weaver	...	Warden Walker
Jon Voight	...	Marion Sevillo / 'Mr. Sir'
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Dr. Pendanski
Shia LaBeouf	...	Stanley Yelnats IV / 'Caveman'
Dulé Hill	...	Sam the Onion Man
Jake M. Smith	...	Alan / 'Squid'
Byron Cotton	...	Theodore / 'Armpit'
Khleo Thomas	...	Hector Zeroni / 'Zero'
Brenden Jefferson	...	Rex / 'X-Ray'
Miguel Castro	...	José / 'Magnet'
Max Kasch	...	Ricky / 'Zigzag'
Noah Poletiek	...	Brian / 'Twitch'
Zane Holtz	...	Lewis / 'Barfbag'
Steven Kozlowski	...	Lump (as Steve Kozlowski)
Ski Carr	...	Guard

Storyline

"But if you forget to come back for Madame Zeroni, you and your family will be cursed for always and eternity." Those were the exact words spoken to young Elya Yelnats the day he forgot to repay the gypsy Madame Zeroni. From then on his family was cursed with bad luck. One hundred years later Stanley Yelnats IV is accused of stealing a pair of cleats from a major league baseball player and sent to Camp Green Lake (a dry lake bed in the middle of the desert). It never rains at Camp Green Lake, it hasn't for one hundred years. The secretive and mysterious Warden has each inmate spend every day digging one hole to "build character." But when an artifact from the famous "Kissin' Kate" Barlow is found in a hole, the Warden forces the boys to work double time leading Stanley to deduce they're digging because the Warden is looking for something. But what? And how is the mystery of Camp Green Lake connected to Stanley's family curse?

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Plot Keywords:

lake | hole | camp | warden | stealing | 

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Taglines:

The book is now the movie.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for violence, mild language and some thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Geheimnis von Green Lake

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$175,877 (Australia) (31 October 2003)

Gross:

£1,331,449 (UK) (21 November 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, Chicago Pacific Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The animals shown in the movie and referred to as yellow spotted lizards are in fact Bearded dragons with good makeup and CGI fangs. The Beardies were provided by the Sandfire Dragon Ranch.

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Goofs

Trees, foliage and lawned areas are visible in numerous exterior shots in and around the camp, despite the supposed complete absence of rain for 110 years.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Barfbag walks towards a rattlesnake]
X-Ray: Hey, Barfbag. What are you doing?
[Barfbag takes his shoe and sock off and steps on the snake, which bites him]
Barfbag: [yells] Aaaaaah!

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Crazy Credits

At the very end of the credits, Hector "Zero" Zeroni quotes the curse his great-great-great-grandmother made with her accent and speech patterns.

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Connections

References The Defiant Ones (1958)

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Soundtracks

"Assembly - Bugle Call"
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

So much cooler and more interesting than the usual live-action Disney junk.

HOLES is not your average Disney stuff- it's very, very fun, even for adults who usually cringe at the cutesy, focus-group designed "family entertainment" that Uncle Walt's studio passes off as live-action. Perhaps the secret of this film's success is in its faithfulness to the original book, which is a little bit darker than your average kid stuff. The action begins when Stanley Yelnats is sent to a boys' prison camp, where all the inmates are forced to dig holes under the desert sun as a form of rehibilitation. But as the story progresses, Stanley's tale becomes interwoven with that of a legendary treasure, and this adventure becomes ten times more fun than any Disney movie about an all-boy prison camp has any right to be. Jon Voight is especially nasty and colorful, and Sigourney Weaver is beautiful, as always.