Scene Selection — Geoff Carter: There are no ‘Holes’ in this splendid film

Friday, Sept. 26, 2003 | 9:24 a.m.

Geoff Carter is a Seattle based free-lance film critic and entertainment writer. Reach him at carter@pre2k.com.

Even now, on the cusp of prestige movie season, I can say with some certainty that Andrew Davis' "Holes" will make my top 10 list for 2003. This family film, based on a popular book by Louis Sachar (who also wrote the screenplay), is smarter than most so-called "adult" films I've seen this year, and deserves to be remembered long after the race to the Oscars.

"Holes" is a crunchy, unexpected pleasure, one that isn't diminished on the small screen. The DVD, available this week (Disney DVD, $29.99), holds a fair amount of the film's operatic quality -- think Sergio Leone crossed with "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." If you're expecting "Kangaroo Jack," forget it -- "Holes" isn't passive entertainment, and both you and your kids should watch it with both eyes.

Young Staney Yelnats the Fourth (Shia LaBeouf) is charged with a crime he didn't commit. He is sent to Camp Green Lake, a work farm in the middle of a dry Texas lakebed, where he is forced by the menacing Mr. Sir (Jon Voight) and the passive-aggressive Dr. Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson) to dig a hole every single day -- 5 feet deep and 5 feet in diameter, using his shovel as a yardstick.

A few dozen other boys share in this wearying task, but only a few wonder if the camp's mysterious warden (Sigourney Weaver) is actually looking for something.

Stanley suspects as much, but he's got much more on his mind: he wants to fit in with the other boys, all of whom are tough-talking and have nicknames; he wants to know why the camp's quietest boy and fastest digger, Zero (Khleo Thomas), will speak only to him; he wants to know if his plight is related to the Yelnats family curse.

Oh yes, they're cursed. Years ago, a gypsy seer (Eartha Kitt) placed a curse on Stanley's "no-good, pig-stealing great-great-grandfather." As "Holes" unfolds in layers and its narrative jumps around in time, we find out that there's another curse waiting to be broken, one laid down by famed Old West outlaw Kissin' Kate Barlow (Patricia Arquette).

The way that Stanley and Zero unearth and unravel these curses is ingenious, but the way the curses ripple through the story, shaping it, is little short of inspired. Having nailed the story, Davis and Sachar are free to concentrate on characters, and they create some of the best I've seen in a family picture.

Take Jon Voight's Mr. Sir -- watch the stiff-legged gait he walks, and that crazy squinting eye. Sigourney Weaver gives the Warden a depth of emotion that really makes her character despicable. And the leads, LaBeouf and Thomas, easily slip into penetrating stares and wounded expressions that many older actors can't muster.

The DVD boasts a modest amount of documentary features and deleted scenes, but they don't offer much that "Holes" doesn't already have. The cut scenes are short and truly unnecessary; Sachar and Davis' commentary track is more of a companion than a tutor. Even the makers of "Holes" seem amazed that they made such a good film.

Don't hesitate to rent or buy "Holes" and jump right in.