The Battle of Shaker Heights (2003)

2 high school guys, reenacting historic battles, use the learned strategy and team for war on a school bully. One falls for the other's sister/A.Smart.

Directors:

Efram Potelle, Kyle Rankin

Writer:

Erica Beeney

Stars:

Shia LaBeouf, Elden Henson, Amy Smart

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shia LaBeouf	...	Kelly Ernswiler (as Shia La Beouf)
Elden Henson	...	Bart Bowland
Amy Smart	...	Tabby
Billy Kay	...	Lance
Kathleen Quinlan	...	Eve
Shiri Appleby	...	Sarah
William Sadler	...	Abe
Ray Wise	...	Harrison
Philipp Karner	...	Maurice / German Soldier
Anson Mount	...	Miner Weber
Dale R. Simonton	...	Todd / German Soldier (as Dale Simonton)
Michael McShane	...	Mr. Norway
Hattie Winston	...	Principal Holmstead
Rick Cramer	...	German Officer / Mr. Thomas
France Nuyen	...	Xiou-Xiou Ling

Storyline

A young war reenactor makes a friend on the battlefield who helps him use strategy to take on his high school enemy. Driven by newfound confidence, he seduces the friend's fetching older sister and risks the friendship. Reality intervenes when the illness of his ex-addict father forces the anger his irony masks to the surface and he has to decide if staying in a fantasy world is worth the consequences.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | reference to led zeppelin | painter | wetting pants | bully comeuppance | 

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Taglines:

The revolution will not be televised!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and some drug references

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

22 August 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Batalha de Shaker Heights

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$47,693, 24 August 2003, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$279,282, 14 September 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

LivePlanet, Miramax

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christopher McDonald was originally cast in the role of Abe, but the role was recast (due to a scheduling conflict) and given to William Sadler the day before Abe's first scene was to be shot. McDonald was shown on Project Greenlight (2001) coming to the set for a wardrobe fitting mere hours before he was replaced.

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Goofs

The position of the lawnmower on the lawn in subsequent shots at the end of the movie.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Maurice: [in German] I have to take a leak.
Kelly: [holding a knife to his neck from behind] Ssh.

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Connections

Referenced in Caught on Camera: Viral Videos: Fact or Fiction? (2012)

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Soundtracks

Fairlee
Written by Matthew Pond
Performed by Matt Pond PA
Courtesy of Polyvinyl Records

User Reviews

A losing "Battle"

THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS (2003) ** Shia LaBeouf, Amy Smart, Elden Henson, Kathleen Quinlan, William Sadler, Shiri Appleby, Ray Wise, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson. Sophomoric entry (in more ways than one) of the Project Greenlight experiment continues its ill-advised decision to make another predictable coming-of-age dramedy this time with LaBeouf (a combination of Dustin 'Screech' Diamond and Mark Linn-Baker) as a twerpy, sarcastic Ohio teen whose only outlet of creativity inexplicably is as a WWII recreation participant who faces his daily battles in high school by his wits while harboring resentment towards his well-meaning, yet flaky and damaged (i.e. mom's a latent hippie; dad a recovering druggie cum charity worker) folks. When he is befriended by a preppie (a seemingly miscast Henson who eerily resemble a cross between an adolescent JFK and Alan Hale) he meets his sister (the sadly underused hottie Smart) whose impending nuptials further adds insult to injury. The film suffers in many plot holes, a too-cutesy-Aren't-I-Witty main character, strange choices (Wise as the father of Smart and Henson is a collector of odd-ball items to the point he includes a nicknamed nick knack on their answering machine???!!!) and a shockingly short running time that begs to question where is the meat of the so-called 'incredible' script by Erica Beeney that scored the win in the contest and the lugubrious directorial debut by the not-so-dynamic duo of Efram Potelle and Kyle Rankin (where is the drama?!) LaBeouf manages (barely) to make the rather annoying faux intellectualistic Salingeresque protagonist a few moments of humor and his puberty blues underlie some of his bankrupt rebellion. What's lost in translation is clearly a lack of communication by all involved. A real shame for something that apparently had a slim change of being worthwhile (if you can go by the HBO series).