The story of 'Holes' revolves around 'Stanley Yelnats' who, for stealing a pair of baseball shoes, is sent to a character building camp called 'Camp Green Lake'. The philosophy of the camp is 'If you take a bad boy, make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy', and under this philosophy the young inmates are forced to dig meaningless holes as a form of rehabilitation. But as the story progresses, Stanley soon believes the camp warden may have an ulterior motive for making the boys dig holes. Overall, 'Holes' isn't your average Disney fodder, even adults who usually cringe at the thought of sitting through a kids film will find this hard to dislike. The story is highly involving and the acting from an all star cast is universally great. Highly recommended!
An engrossing story, well acted, not too long at just under two hours, with tacit criticism of the US youth 'justice' system which puts Stanley, an innocent kid, into Camp Greenlake, a boys' slave labour camp in all but name, isolated in a merciless desert region of Texas. Sounds grim? The kids aren't sickly-cute, & the plot, humour, music, & acting all lift it out of misery, entertaining the viewer with quirky characters, venomous beasts, & a backstory of love, savage racism, riches, & revenge, haunting the land of the long dried-up lake bed.