About the film Holes

Holes is a 2003 film based on the novel of the same title by Louis Sachar, who also wrote the screenplay, with Shia LaBeouf as the lead role of Stanley Yelnats. The film was produced by Walden Media and released by Walt Disney Pictures.


At the beginning of the story, Stanley Yelnats IV, a shy, overweight boy who always ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, supposedly due to a family curse, has been wrongly accused of stealing the baseball player Clyde Livingston’s shoes from a charity auction to benefit a homeless shelter. The judge offered Stanley the option for his 18-month punishment to be served at a juvenile detention facility or at a place called Camp Green Lake. Stanley tells the judge that he hadn't been to camp before, so he gets sent there. At Camp Green Lake, Stanley and his fellow campers, all delinquents, are forced to dig holes to “build their character”. Stanley later learns the Warden of Camp Green Lake is not interested in building the boys' character, but instead is searching for a buried treasure, which she has not found. After some time, Stanley finds a lipstick tube enscribed with "KB", the initials of the Wild West outlaw, Kissin’ Kate Barlow.  


Stanley is just a regular kid until he is found responsible for a crime he didn't commit. We learn about a curse that has been in his family for several generations. His bad luck lands Stanley in a very strange correctional camp in the Texas desert. The warden has all the inmates digging holes in a dry lake bed. The story weaves interesting tall tales from local history and Stanley's family. The relationships among the juveniles in the camp are interesting to follow. Stanley finds a good friend, treasure, and learns to like himself.