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Common sense media reviewers.

Great movie respects its audience's intelligence.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Stanley and Zero are treated badly by adults at th

The adults in charge of the boy's camp are mea

Stanley is sent to a boys' work camp, where th

Non-sexual scenes of boys showering (in their unde

"Damned," "hell," "schmuc

Mr. Sir hands a guard a Coke. Characters revel in

Mr. Sir has quit smoking at the start of the movie

Parents need to know that Holes , based on the bestseller by Louis Sachar, has an edge to it, but it's not as gritty as it could be. Portraying a teen boys' work-camp could give excuses to broach more lewd subject matter, but this movie portrays the rough and tumble without devolving into a gross-out…

Positive Messages

Stanley and Zero are treated badly by adults at the camp who call them worthless and stupid. Stanley, however, takes on the task of teaching Zero how to read. He sticks out his neck for Zero and eventually saves his life.

Positive Role Models

The adults in charge of the boy's camp are mean-spirited and demeaning. But the adults in Stanley's life are kind-hearted and generous. Stanley has inherited these traits from his family, welcoming Zero into his home like a brother.

Violence & Scariness

Stanley is sent to a boys' work camp, where there is rough-housing and some fist fights. There are wild west flashbacks where a gun-toting female renegade kills men and then kisses their cheeks. Members of the old west community threaten to lynch an African-American man who loves a white woman -- he is shot as he tries to escape. Perilous moments on the face of a rock, as Stanley and Zero nearly fall to their deaths. A character commits suicide by allowing a poisonous lizard to bite her.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Non-sexual scenes of boys showering (in their underwear). Stanley talks in passing about a fantasy he has of seeing a woman in a bikini.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"Damned," "hell," "schmuck," and "jackasses" are all uttered.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Mr. Sir hands a guard a Coke. Characters revel in newly found wealth.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Mr. Sir has quit smoking at the start of the movie, but is back to smoking by the end. In an old West flashback, a sheriff admits that he is drunk.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Holes , based on the bestseller by Louis Sachar , has an edge to it, but it's not as gritty as it could be. Portraying a teen boys' work-camp could give excuses to broach more lewd subject matter, but this movie portrays the rough and tumble without devolving into a gross-out fest. There are some moments of racial and gender tension played out in glimpses of the past (reference to a lynching, men trying to force their attentions on a woman), which might be too intense for younger viewers. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (38)
• Kids say (96)

Based on 38 parent reviews

Amazing Film

What's the story.

Adapted by Louis Sachar from his Newbery award-winning book , HOLES, this is the story of Stanley Yelnats ( Shia LaBeouf ). Stanley is wrongfully accused of stealing a very valuable pair of sneakers and sentenced to a juvenile facility in the desert. Each boy there is required to dig a five-foot-deep hole every day. They are told it is to help them develop character, but could it be that the Warden ( Sigourney Weaver ) is looking for something that just might be buried in the endless stretch of sand that once was Green Lake?

Is It Any Good?

Author Louis Sacher (who appears briefly as a man who is going bald) adapted his own story, and it retains all of the complexity and understated, offbeat charm of the book. The adult actors are excellent, especially Arquette and Dule Hill , but the kids are the center of the story, and they handle it beautifully. Khleo Thomas is wonderfully engaging as Zero. In sharp contrast to most movies directed at 10- to 15-year-olds (come to think of it, to most movies of any kind), Holes respects the intelligence of its audience. It is even willing to challenge them, and that makes it a movie for everyone in the family to treasure.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about its themes of fate and choice. What actions in Holes seem to have been decided by fate (or a curse) and what were decided by the characters?

How much of our present is influenced by or determined by the past?

There are even more connections between the three stories than you see at first. How many can you find?

If you pay close attention, there is something significant about when the boys use their real names and when they use their tough nicknames. What does that tell you?

Why doesn't Stanley tell the truth in his letter to his mother? How is Stanley different at the end of the movie?

Movie Details

• In theaters : April 18, 2003
• On DVD or streaming : September 23, 2003
• Cast : Patricia Arquette , Shia LaBeouf , Sigourney Weaver
• Director : Andrew Davis
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Walt Disney Pictures
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Book Characters
• Run time : 111 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : violence, mild language and some thematic elements.
• Last updated : May 26, 2024

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'Holes' Review: Forced Labor Never Looked This Fun

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Based on the book of the same name by Louis Sachar , who also penned the script, Holes is a rare family movie with something for everyone. Mixing slapstick comedy with dark explorations of racism in the US, Andrew Davis ' cult movie is an unexpected story that’s part neo-Western, part prison break, and a whole lot of fun. In addition, one could think forced labor would be a touchy subject, but here is Holes , making a wacky family-friendly adventure out of it.

RELATED: The Best Children & Family Movies on Netflix Right Now

Disney has made strange movies in more than one hundred years of history. Still, Holes might take the prize for the wildest story ever coming from the House of the Mouse. This is a family film that opens with a suicide attempt. Less than five minutes later, we meet Henry Winkler playing a kooky inventor determined to find a cure for smelly feet. That's not the end of it, as we soon get a close shot at a mattress stained with teenage fluids. And let's not forget the entire movie is about a forced labor camp for teenagers. And that's just in one of the three intertwined storylines of Holes , which also finds a way to include ancient curses, arranged marriages, and Wild West thieves. To say this movie is weird would be an understatement. And yet, it works somehow.

While adapting a novel into a film is always challenging , Sachar knew the story inside out, being the author of the Holes novel. As a result, nothing goes to waste in Disney’s Holes , as every minor plot element will be tied up elegantly right before the credits roll. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much in common between a fortune-teller in Latvia and the brutal prison system in Texas, but Sachar still creates meaningful connections essential to telling Holes ’ story.

Of course, something always gets lost in translations, and the constant dives back to the past hurt the movie’s pacing. That’s even more true because some of these flashbacks won’t be important to the main plot until we reach the final half-hour of Holes . As such, viewers might wonder why we are making detours through stories that seem unrelated to the labor camp where the main plot unfolds. Even so, we are pattern-seeking animals, and it just feels good watching all the pieces fall into place to form a beautiful figure with absolutely nothing missing. It’s curious that the movie is called Holes because the narrative structure is all about how different storylines can fill the gaps of each other, showing how we are all connected by fate, fortune, and family affairs.

While Sachar’s script is a wonder without plot holes or unused elements, Holes still works after two decades because this is one of the best-acted family films ever. Even though most of the cast comprises teenagers with little acting experience, everyone is on top of their game. Each convict in Green Lake Camp has their own story, and it’s fantastic that Holes gives them enough time to tell them, adding emotional layers and singularities to what would otherwise be a bland and uniform group. Of course, the stars of the show Shia LaBeouf ’s Stanley and Khleo Thomas ’ Hector, whose journey exposes the failures of a prison system based on punishment and dissent to reintegrate individuals who committed crimes. Instead, Stanley and Hector will learn how mutual support is the only way to find true freedom.

There’s some praise to be given to the adult cast too. As always, Sigourney Weaver turns everything she touches into gold. And in the case of Weavers’ malicious Warden, she manages to let the woman’s desperation slip through the cracks of her hard shell, proving that even the most despicable villains are also victims of the circumstances. This philosophy pervades every second of Holes , which turns out to be a lot more complex than one could imagine. While family-friendly movies tend to give heroes and villains clear moral compasses pointing in opposite directions, Holes is concerned with fleshing out every single character, exposing their flaws, and showing that what makes people good is how they decide to deal with their own mistakes.

It’s been twenty years since Holes hit theaters, but it was ahead of its time. Every scene of Holes is risky since it avoids easy answers and exposes some uncomfortable truths about the justice system. So, it’s easy to understand why executives might be scared to try out something so bold in the current political climate. Still, the fact that Holes managed to do everything it does while still appealing to children proves we shouldn’t underestimate the younger members of the family, even more since complex stories can also catch adults’ attention.

Holes is currently available on Disney+.

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• Shia LaBeouf

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You take a bad boy, make him dig holes all day long in the hot sun, it makes him a good boy. That's our philosophy here at Camp Green Lake. So says Mr. Sir, the overseer of a bizarre juvenile correction center that sits in the middle of the desert, surrounded by countless holes, each one 5 feet deep and 5 feet wide. It is the fate of the boys sentenced there to dig one hole a day, day after day; like Sisyphus, who was condemned to forever roll a rock to the top of a hill so that it could roll back down again, they are caught in a tragic loop.

"Holes," which tells their story, is a movie so strange that it escapes entirely from the family genre and moves into fantasy. Like " Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ," it has fearsome depths and secrets. Based on the much-honored young adult's novel by Louis Sachar , it has been given the top-shelf treatment: The director is Andrew Davis (" The Fugitive ") and the cast includes not only talented young stars but also weirdness from adults such as Jon Voight , Sigourney Weaver , Tim Blake Nelson and Patricia Arquette .

In a time when mainstream action is rigidly contained within formulas, maybe there's more freedom to be found in a young people's adventure. "Holes" jumps the rails, leaves all expectations behind, and tells a story that's not funny ha-ha but funny peculiar. I found it original and intriguing. It'll be a change after dumbed-down, one-level family stories, but a lot of kids in the upper grades will have read the book, and no doubt their younger brothers and sisters have had it explained to them. (If you doubt the novel's Harry Potter-like penetration into the youth culture, ask a seventh-grader who Armpit is.) The story involves Stanley Yelnats IV (Shia LaBeouf) as a good kid who gets charged with a crime through no fault of his own, and is shipped off to Camp Green Lake, which is little more than a desert bunkhouse surrounded by holes. There he meets his fellow prisoners and the ominous supervisory staff: Mr. Sir (Jon Voight) and Mr. Pendanski ( Tim Blake Nelson) report to The Warden (Sigourney Weaver), and both men are thoroughly intimidated by her. All three adult actors take their work seriously; they don't relax because this is a family movie, but create characters of dark comic menace. Voight's work is especially detailed; watch him spit in his hand to slick back his hair.

"Holes" involves no less than two flashback stories. We learn that young Stanley comes from a long line of Yelnatses (all named Stanley, because it is the last name spelled backward). From his father ( Henry Winkler ) and grandfather ( Nathan Davis ), he learns of an ancient family curse, traced back many generations to an angry fortune teller ( Eartha Kitt ; yes, Eartha Kitt). The other flashback explains the real reason that the Warden wants the boys to dig holes; it involves the buried treasure of a legendary bandit queen named Kissin' Kate Barlow (Arquette).

There is a link between these two back-stories, supplied by Zero ( Khleo Thomas ), who becomes Stanley's best friend and shares a harrowing adventure with him. Zero runs away, despite Mr. Sir's warning that there is no water for miles around, and when Stanley joins him, they stumble upon ancient clues and modern astonishments.

LaBeouf and Khleo Thomas are both new to me, although LaBoeuf is the star of a cable series, "Even Stevens." They carry the movie with an unforced conviction, and successfully avoid playing cute. As they wander in the desert and discover the keys to their past and present destinies, they develop a partnership, which, despite the fantastical material, seems like the real thing.

The whole movie generates a surprising conviction. No wonder young readers have embraced it so eagerly: It doesn't condescend, and it founds its story on recognizable human nature. There are all sorts of undercurrents, such as the edgy tension between the Warden and Mr. Sir, that add depth and intrigue; Voight and Weaver don't simply play caricatures.

Davis has always been a director with a strong visual sense, and the look of "Holes" has a noble, dusty loneliness. We feel we are actually in a limitless desert. The cinematographer, Stephen St . John, thinks big, and frames his shots for an epic feel that adds weight to the story. I walked in expecting a movie for thirteensomethings, and walked out feeling challenged and satisfied. Curious, how much more grown up and sophisticated "Holes" is than " Anger Management ."

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Holes (2003)

Rated PG For Violence, Mild Language and Some Thematic Elements.

111 minutes

Sigourney Weaver as The Warden

Jon Voight as Mr. Sir

Patricia Arquette as Kissin' Kate

Shia LaBeouf as Stanley

Tim Blake as Dr. Pendanski

Khleo Thomas as Nelson Zero

Jake M. Smith as Squid

Byron Cotton as Armpit

Brenden Jefferson as X-Ray

Henry Winkler as Stanley's Father

Directed by

• Andrew Davis
• Louis Sachar

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Holes Reviews

Holes was one of the defining shows of my childhood – and is still a really thought-provoking watch 15 years later.

Full Review | Jul 14, 2023

Holes still rocks all these years later. It’s thorny, emotionally resonant young adult storytelling with a good filmmaker behind the wheel and a deep cast. We really didn’t know how good we used to have it.

Full Review | May 20, 2023

Smart, funny and truly original, it's a film capable of entertaining its young target audience as well as the parents who come along for the ride.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Nov 15, 2019

In the true Disney spirit, Holes is for the young and old alike. Substantive, well told, well executed. There is something here to satisfy the entire family...

Full Review | Nov 13, 2019

I think it's something that will make children think while still entertaining them and it'll teach them some good lessons.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Jun 28, 2019

This Burtonesque slice of Southern whimsy works much better on the page than it does on screen where its events transpire arbitrarily and seem less organic.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 5, 2018

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 30, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Young viewers and old alike will be given powerful metaphors of servanthood and selflessness, humility and honor, courage and Christ-like kindness.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Dec 6, 2004

O roteiro leve e bem construdo, aliado s performances de um elenco carismtico, deu origem ao tipo de filme que certamente divertir toda a famlia.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 25, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Oct 7, 2004

Engaging, generous, and well-paced. Holes is inventively plotted and its coincidences and crazy mysticism pull you in the way the best children's fiction does.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 6, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 27, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 22, 2003

Unlike so many kids movies, Holes hasn't been dumbed down, loaded with bathroom humor

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 26, 2003

Funny, inspiring and just a little bit naughty, Holes is excellent family entertainment.

Full Review | Original Score: 77/100 | Sep 24, 2003

For all its faults, Holes has an overriding good humor and sense of fun that saves it from the usual drudge of children's pictures.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Sep 21, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 20, 2003

Holes is a rarity among kids' movies: It's dark, complex, intelligent and well-acted.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 6, 2003

An honestly extraordinary maturation performance by Even Stevens' Shia LaBeouf proves Disney truly has monopoly over the most talented youth actors

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jul 17, 2003

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Dove Review

“Holes” is adapted by Louis Sachar from his Newbery Award-winning book. This is the story of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But difficult circumstances become the fodder for character traits like loyalty, trust and sacrifice. These human qualities draw together a dysfunctional bunch of juvenile delinquents into a band of brothers.

The story centers around Stanley Yelnats VI, a typical teenager who lives with a not-so-typical family. He is struck on the head with a pair of tennis shoes that literally fall out of the sky. Suddenly, the cops are on him and arrest Stanley for stealing the shoes. He is sentenced to 18 months at Camp Green Lake. The so-called camp is actually a youth detention center for wayward boys located in the middle of a dried up lake bed in the hot, dry desert. The typical sentence for the “campers” is to dig one 5′ by 5′ hole every day “to build up their character.”

The history of Stanley’s strange family and a curse that has been handed down through the generations is skillfully depicted through flashbacks into the distant past. The connections between past and present are revealed in a clever sequence of events that keep the audience guessing right up to the end. The production quality, excellent character acting, and a fascinating story help make this a very enjoyable film. This star-studded cast does a great job, especially Jon Voight as the Camp foreman Mr. Sir. His performance is a classic, and a departure from the roles he has portrayed recently.

“Holes” has some rough language in parts and some of the violence will be too strong for young children. Dove rates the family curse elements of this film with a 2 under “Other” because some of the depictions could be construed as spell casting, or sorcery. But, it could also be dismissed as mere superstition. Even though this is a film about kids, Dove has rated it 12+ because of the strong theme, violence and language. Teenagers and adults will dig “Holes.”

Dove Rating Details

Some fights between boys; man hit with a shovel; man scratched by woman; woman bitten by lizard; boy bitten by rattle snake; man shoots lizards.

H, D, Cr*p - total of 9 times; OMG-3.

Woman places a curse on a man and his descendants.

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Christian Movie Reviews - Family Friendly Entertainment

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• compiled by Jeffrey Overstreet Copyright Christianity Today International
• Updated Nov 24, 2009

B ased on Louis Sachar's bestselling novel for young readers , the new movie Holes brings to life the adventures of Stanley Yelnats (Shia LaBeouf), a troubled teen whose palindrome name is not the only thing that makes him unique.

Stanley is the son of an oddball visionary (Henry Winkler) determined to discover the cure for foot odor. The cure has proven elusive, but that is par for the course. The Yelnats are the latest generation to suffer under a long-running "family curse" that prevents them from succeeding at anything. Thus there is a strange irony in the fact that the family's latest misfortune—Stanley's arrest and conviction—involves a stolen pair of shoes.

Although innocent, Stanley is sentenced to 18 months at a reform camp in the desert. There, he joins a crowd of unruly youngsters in the unpleasant business of digging holes under the supervision of a cruel taskmaster (Jon Voight), a counselor with a mean streak (Tim Blake Nelson), and a mysterious warden (Sigourney Weaver). During his trials he befriends another laborer, "Zero" (Khleo Thomas), and the two help each other through trials, a desperate unplanned escape, and a mystery that involves stories of their ancestors.

Director Andrew Davis ( The Fugitive ) has taken Sachar's Newberry and National Book Award-winning story and transformed it into one of the most complex, challenging, and entertaining films for young audiences we have seen in years.

I spoke with the director this week about why Holes is such a rare and wonderful exception to the rule—a movie that rewards all ages. He explained that the secret lies in the story's source material, and in Sachar's insistence on "not talking down to the kids."

Sachar had more than just the experiences of young readers in mind, and that is why grownups enjoy the book—and the movie—alongside their kids. "They're provocative stories," Davis explains. " Holes has a tremendous amount of hope and character arc. It deals with some real issues … with some history, with who we are as people and where we come from."

It seems strange that such rewarding all-ages entertainment is so rare on the big screen. Perhaps directors should keep a closer eye on children's literature. Davis remarks: " Holes probably would have not been made if it was just a screenplay. It was the fact that there was this book that had been embraced by these kids [that] allowed it to get made. The book was the star. It works for kids from 8 to 15. Younger kids love to see [stories involving] older kids. Because of the historical layers of the story, you're reaching those a little older. You've got the issue of the family, which can reach grandparents. There's something for everybody."

Everybody? Doesn't the film focus mainly on boys?

Davis admits that he resisted some coaxing to simplify the adaptation. "There were some people when we first started financing the film who said, 'Well, we'll do the story of the camp but we won't do the story of the family.' And we said, 'That's ridiculous. That's what the book is all about!' We wanted to stay close to what Louis had done in developing the relationships between the boys. I wanted to keep some subtle things in there. We didn't lose too much—we lost a couple of things that were in the book, but we also added some things that weren't in the book. Overall, Louis and I were very happy with how it turned out. People are coming out of the theatres [glad] that it's so close to the book."

Holes tackles the issue of race relations with surprising vigor, considering its audience. It bathes its historical romance in the sort of fairy-tale glow that enveloped Princess Bride 's Prince Westley and Buttercup. Davis says, "I grew up in the '60s and was involved in the Civil Rights movement, and I know how much race relations have changed in this country. The issues of race are big in the [back story of Holes ], but in the current story race is not an issue. Maybe that shows where we are and where we've come from."

Davis hopes viewers will come away considering other themes and questions as well. "Because of what we are going through right now in this country—thinking about what it means to be Americans—we realize that we are all immigrants at one point or another. Everybody has come to America and struggled, whether as a pilgrim or a slave or someone who came over last week from Mexico. That's part of what makes America great—we come together and work together to make a country where people care about each other."

Holes will endure for more than just its important social themes, though. Those in the audience familiar with Scripture will catch several echoes of Bible stories, from Daniel in the lions' den to Christ's sacrifice. One character, after a particularly difficult heroic effort to save a life, walks away with vivid scars on his hands. More than once we are reminded that a hero is a person who lays down his life for his friends, and who willingly suffers the consequences for the sins of his enemies.

Gerri Pare ( Catholic News Service ) says, "Several characters are one-dimensional. The feel-good ending is a crowd-pleaser that so ties up every story strand it's hard to overlook the movie's far-fetched coincidences."

Megan Basham ( Christian Spotlight ) argues, " Holes is likely to leave viewers under eight antsy and, as was the case in the preview I attended, screaming for something more diverting."

J. Robert Parks ( The Phantom Tollbooth ) complains, "The movie reduces Sachar's subtle meditation to a simplistic tale. None of the book's sublimity reaches the screen. The little ones might laugh, but the adults will be bored."

I certainly was not bored—it was the most enjoyable film I've seen so far in 2003. My full review is at Looking Closer . And it seemed clear to me that the story was not meant for extremely young children. I agree with Davis that it feels right for ages 8 and up.

Loren Eaton ( Focus on the Family ) did not find it simplistic at all: " Holes is a much deeper film than its … promotional campaign indicates. Unlike many book-to-film conversions, this movie maintains the book's distinction." Eaton concludes, "Parents looking for a well-crafted cinematic tale with lots to talk about afterwards will consider it a treasure trove."

Michael Elliott ( Movie Parables ) agrees: " Holes is a rich, multi-layered story which adults and young adults will enjoy equally." He adds, "It is a bit of a departure for [Davis]. We can hope it is a detour which he will continue traveling. Sachar … was able to keep much of the story's thematic integrity intact."

Cliff Vaughn ( Ethics Daily ) adds: "The qualities that make Holes hard to synopsize also make it a good story. With multiple storylines in different time periods, it's hard for the uninitiated to imagine how the filmmakers can plug seeming holes in the narrative. But they do. And adults will likely be as intrigued as children."

Holly McClure ( Crosswalk ) raves that Holes "intelligently weaves together the weaknesses and self-doubts all of us have and fills those holes with a powerful life-changing message. Holes will capture the hearts of all ages."

Movieguide 's critic appreciates the moral resonance of the story, but turns in one strong objection: "For those who believe in the biblical mandate against [curses], it is not appropriate, and it will alienate many people who are the very audience for the movie." Mary Draughon ( Preview ) also give the film "a marginal acceptability rating due to its witchcraft element."

Scripture does indeed forbid us from consulting spiritualists and casting curses. But it certainly does not forbid telling stories that show the villainy and foolishness of such endeavors—the Bible has such stories within its own pages.

Mainstream critics have had mixed responses. CNN 's David Germain says, "Beyond the book's fans … it's hard to imagine who will want to see it. Holes totters into a pit of schmaltz, a disappointingly simpleminded, black-and-white ending to a tale that had shown unusual shades of gray for a story about adolescents."

But Roger Ebert ( Chicago Sun-Times ) writes, "I walked in expecting a movie for thirteensomethings, and walked out feeling challenged and satisfied."

J. R. Jones ( Chicago Reader ) agrees: "For a kids' tale, it has a surprisingly sophisticated narrative structure. For a Disney movie, Holes is mercifully low in saccharine. The film's fidelity to the plot and tone of the book is a credit to [Sachar and Davis.] Like a lot of great children's stories, Holes evokes a world in which kids have their own language and moral code that protects them from the lies and compromises of the adult world. That's a salutary vision for children of any age."

Director Andrew Davis's complex and rewarding new family adventure film Holes is still gleaning good reviews from Christian critics. Steven D. Greydanus ( Decent Films ) writes, " Holes is one of the few children's books I've read as an adult that made me wish I'd been able to read it as a kid. Wry humor, thrills, and vividly bizarre details figure in a convoluted, almost epic plot in which seemingly unrelated elements are cleverly dovetailed into a satisfying, redemptive climax that takes on a weight of destiny. All of this is effectively brought to the screen. Holes is easily one of Hollywood's most challenging and intellectually engaging family films in recent years. Davis and Sachar deserve credit for refusing to dumb down the story and delivering a film that will reward repeated viewing."

Similarly, Christian columnist Terry Mattingly finds echoes of God's grace throughout the film.

And Steve Lansingh ( The Film Forum ) writes, " Levity is uncomfortable territory. It's a probing, searching movie that connects us with our own sense of guilt and our search for grace. It reminds us that these are processes, that they are part of a journey, not subject to a quick fix. It invites us to be honest about our own misdeeds and our own broken relationships."

Gerri Pare ( Catholic News Service ) praises Nick Nolte's "captivating title performance" in Neil Jordan's The Good Thief . But he gives the movie bad marks: "While it's fine on seedy atmosphere and stunning Riviera visuals, eventually its ever murkier narrative turns wear the audience out—and may leave them puzzled by the morally ambiguous conclusion."

David DiCerto ( Catholic News Service ) cautions viewers not to stumble into Laurel Canyon , which he says "espouses that most dubious of chestnuts—that self-fulfillment hinges on jettisoning social convention and embracing libertinism. This view … liberation via libertinism … has grown a bit long in the tooth. Its proponents have been singing the same tune since film critics wore bowler hats. Thankfully, this disagreeable film does little to bolster the attractiveness of their argument."

Mike Furches ( Hollywood Jesus ) sat through a new slasher-thriller and writes, "If you are expecting a great art film, compelling story, inspirational movie or entertaining experience, don't go see The House of 1,000 Corpses ."

He does, however, find a worthwhile observation in what he sums up as a dispiriting film. The film's portrayal of a mean-spirited church insensitive to the lost is, to Furches, partly the fault of the church in the real world. "While this movie is hard to watch, the reality … should hit home for most Christians who refuse to be a point of light to the world around them. We have not done a good job of showing the world Jesus' love by being honest examples of that love. It seems to me that when seeing this type of portrayal … at the very least we owe someone an apology and … an effort to start living a life that will change the message. Instead we tend to criticize and ostracize the world for being what they should be without Christ."

Paul Chinn ( Relevant ) confesses, "I'm a fan of cheesy, shoddy horror. The bad acting, the laughable special effects and the campy dialogue can make for some very memorable film viewing." But now that he has seen Rob Zombie's bloodfest, he writes, " House of 1,000 Corpses is more than bad. It's dreadful. It's vile and offensive in its ineptitude. It is so loud, so brash, so idiotic. It makes the Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like Ben-Hur ."

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(C, O, PC, B, AB, LL, VV, S, M) Light redemptive allegory with some occult elements that are lightly rebuked such as fortune teller who pronounces a curse and ghosts who could be simple visions, and some politically correct elements, as well as moral and immoral elements; 9 obscenities and 2 "Oh My G-d" profanities; violence includes man hit with shovel, man scratched with rattlesnake venom, woman bit by deadly lizard, man shot to death in boat, boy hallucinates rattler bite, man shoots deadly lizards, man knocked unconscious by shovel, vigilantes burn schoolhouse, outlaw shoots men and kisses them, outlaw shoots sheriff pointblank, boys fight, and boys almost die of thirst in the desert; light sexual innuendo and kissing; many shots of upper male nudity and woman buttons blouse; no alcohol; no smoking; and, theft, lying, intimidation, and bullying.

More Detail:

HOLES is a well-directed movie with great production values, some beautiful photography, a rousing, heartwarming ending, and a script that needs a rewrite to cure some significant story problems.

Based on the acclaimed children’s book, HOLES tells the story of young Stanley Yelnats, who “finds” a pair of stolen sneakers belonging to a famous athlete. Soon, he is picked up by the police and sentenced by the judge to reformatory camp in the middle of the desert.

Stanley’s father is a goofy inventor, also named Stanley, who is trying to get the odor out of sneakers. The grandfather, another Stanley Yelnats, insists that all of their bad luck stems from a curse.

As the movie slowly develops, the audience discovers in a flashback that a black fortune teller told Stanley’s great grandfather in Latvia how to raise a prize pig so he could marry the girl of his dreams. Madame Zeroni, the fortune teller, told great grandpa to carry a piglet up a mountain to a fresh stream every day. The pig would grow big and be a worthy dowry for the most beautiful girl in the town. She adds, solemnly, that at the end of the process great granddad must carry her up the mountain so she can drink the life giving waters, or he will be cursed for all eternity.

Although this story of his great grandfather is not revealed right away, young Stanley does think about the curse, especially when he gets to Camp Green Lake and finds out that it is a dried up lake bed supposedly in the middle of the Texas desert. This is a mean place where the teenagers have to dig holes in the hot sun to build their character. The sheriff is Mr. Sir, played brilliantly by Jon Voight, who is meaner than ever because he has just given up smoking. The boys are naturally mean. In a vile demonstration of meanness, the camp counselor, Mr. Pendanski, tells the littlest boy that he’s just downright stupid. Furthermore, the warden is supposed to be the meanest of them all.

Stanley, however, with a code of ethics and a good mind, seems to get along with minor beatings and intimidations. The little boy, Zero, whose real name is Hector Zeroni, only talks to Stanley. Much later, the audience discovers that Zero stole the athlete Clyde “Sweet Feet” Livingston shoes from the orphanage, and when the police chased him, he threw them off the bridge near Stanley.

Slowly, the story of Green Lake unravels too. Once upon a time, it was a beautiful lake owned by Mr. Walker, whose son had his eye on the buxom blonde schoolteacher, Kate. Kate, however, was enamored of Sam the black man who sold onions as a cure-all, and spent some time fixing Kate’s schoolhouse. When young Mr. Walker catches Kate kissing Sam, he gets a mob to burn the schoolhouse. Eventually, the vigilantes track down and shoot Sam. The rain stops when Sam is shot and the lake dries up.

Kate shoots the sheriff and kisses him. Thus, she becomes the bandit, “Kissing Kate.”

Young Mr. Walker searches for Kate’s loot from all her robberies. The warden, played by Sigourney Weaver, is Walker’s daughter. Camp Green Lake is her way of digging up the lake to find the treasure.

Although the dialogue dismisses the curse on Stanley’s family, it isn’t until Stanley carries Zero up to the top of the mountain (called “God’s thumb”) to the stream of life-giving water that the curse is broken and the story turns to the good.

The last third of this movie is rewarding, endearing, uplifting, and entertaining. The first third has so much trouble introducing the various threads of the story that the children sitting around me said that they were confused.

Those who are not confused may be bored except for the fine acting, staging and directing. Jon Voight alone is worth the price of admission.

Clearly, there are a lot of Christian messages here, from the stream of life-giving water, to carrying your brother’s burdens, to sacrificing your life for others, and many positive allegorical touches.

However, there are also some plot elements that seem to belie the refutation of the fortune teller’s curse. After all, as soon as little Zero is carried up the hill, Stanley’s father’s fortune begins to change. This nomimalistic event could be treated in a media-wise manner with children, but for the fact at the very end of the movie, after the credits, little Zeroni pronounces a curse on the audience. This is done in jest, but for those who believe in the biblical mandate against such invectives, it is not appropriate, and it will alienate many people who are the very audience for the movie. Thus, a little editing could improve the movie tremendously.

The filmmakers are dedicated to redeeming the media. They should be commended for their efforts.

Please address your comments to:

Michael Eisner, Chairman/CEO

Buena Vista Distribution Co.

(Walt Disney Pictures, Caravan, Hollywood, Miramax, & Touchstone Pictures)

Dick Cook, Chairman

Walt Disney Pictures

500 South Buena Vista Street

Burbank, CA 91521

Phone: (818) 560-1000

Website: www.disney.com

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• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure , Drama , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

• November 8, 2019
• Ed Skrein as Dick Best; Mandy Moore as Ann Best; Patrick Wilson as Edwin Layton; Rachael Perrell Fosket as Dagne Layton; Woody Harrelson as Chester W. Nimitz; Luke Evans as Wade McClusky; Luke Kleintank as Clarence Dickinson; Dennis Quaid as William “Bull” Halsey; Aaron Eckhart as Jimmy Doolittle; Keean Johnson as James Murray; Nick Jonas as Bruno Gaido; Etsushi Toyokawa as Isoroku Yamamoto; Tadanobu Asano as Tamon Yamaguchi; Darren Criss as Eugene Lindsey; Jun Kunimura as Chuichi Nagumo

Home Release Date

• February 18, 2020
• Roland Emmerich

Distributor

Movie review.

“Don’t push us into a corner,” Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto told Commander Edwin T. Layton, assistant naval attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, back in 1937. “You must give those of us who are more reasonable a chance to carry the day.”

Alas, Yamamoto’s reasoned, moderate plea for restraint goes unheeded by leaders in his own country. Dialogue and diplomacy vanish like ash in the wind amid increasing regional aggression. And Japan’s fearsome military machine begins its brutal march across Asia and the Pacific.

Four years later, that aggression erupts unexpectedly at Pearl Harbor. As American sailors set up chairs for a chapel service on the deck of the U.S.S Arizona one sleepy December morning, Japanese Zeroes roar overheard, strafing, bombing and torpedoing the pride of the U.S. Pacific fleet. The surprise attack—one that Layton, now chief intelligence officer at Pearl had tragically warned could be coming—lays waste to the fleet anchored there. The preemptive strike exacts a terrible toll: nearly 2,500 Americans dead. Five battleships sunk. Thirteen more destroyed or damaged.

It seems a crippling blow.

But Yamamoto, now in command of the Japanese Combined Fleet, frets and fumes. Despite the apparent success of the ambush, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo failed in one key respect: finding and destroying American aircraft carriers at sea as he’d been ordered to do. America’s might is diminished, yes. But not its capacity to take the fight to the Japanese with its aircraft carriers. “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve,” he says.

Yamamoto’s words will prove prophetic.

Layton, now reporting to newly installed Pacific commander Chester Nimitz, believes the Japanese are marshalling their forces for a knockout blow, one that will leave the Pacific undefended and the West coast of the United States vulnerable to invasion.

But where ?

A crack team of American codebreakers has intercepted enough evidence to convince Layton that the blow will fall at Midway. Layton even thinks he can identity the date and time of that attack. Washington thinks otherwise. But Nimitz trusts his intelligence man and his unorthodox team of codebreakers.

And so Nimitz and Layton, along with Admiral Bill Halsey and other top Navy brass, quietly, methodically and desperately set a trap for the Japanese Navy at that otherwise insignificant sandy dot in the middle of the Pacific.

But can they spring it? Can they achieve the victory that will turn the tide?

Success will depend on surprise. Skill. Luck.

Oh, and aircraft carriers.

But most all, success at Midway will depend upon the bravery of a small group of seasoned-but-battered pilots whose determination to repay the infamy of Pearl Harbor does indeed fill them with Yamamotos’s much-feared “terrible resolve.”

Positive Elements

The Battle of Midway started on June 4, 1942 and lasted three days. It was indeed the decisive turning point in the contest for the Pacific. The Americans’ eventual victory hangs by the thinnest of threads, and it is ultimately delivered by a combination of resolve, ingenuity, intuition and most—most of all—raw courage.

Much of the story revolves around the efforts of two men: Edwin Layton’s attempts to decipher Yamamoto’s intent (and convince leaders of that intel); and the daring, death-defying courage of a fighter-bomber pilot named Dick Best (and the men who fly with him).

Layton has cultivated a team of codebreakers whose work he trusts completely. But the task of codebreaking, as we see here, is as much art as science, as they can only decipher about 25% of the coded Japanese communication traffic that they intercept. Layton and his team piece together their best guess at Yamamoto’s intent. But it is a guess, and Washington’s intel officers (working with the same information) interpret the sketchy information differently.

Layton fights fiercely for his interpretation of the data. He’s haunted by the idea that he was to blame for Pearl Harbor, because he didn’t follow his hunch (based, again, on intelligence data) that the attack was coming. He’s determined not to repeat that mistake, and Nimitz backs his man fully, despite Washington’s pressure to do otherwise.

Dick Best’s task, meanwhile, is both simpler and oh so much harder: dropping bombs on Japanese ships. Best helps convince the Navy that new torpedoes (dropped from fighters) aren’t working effectively. That forces a return to much riskier bombing tactics, in which fighter-bombers fly nearly straight down on their aircraft carrier targets—against a storm of defending anti-aircraft fire—to release their explosive payload at the last possible moment. It’s a job that claims the lives of many pilots and their rear-seat gunners. But Best and his crew are up to the task.

Best works to convince one fear-filled pilot to keep flying. [ Spoiler Warning ] When that pilot dies in a botched carrier take-off, Best grapples with guilt about having encouraged the man to climb back into the cockpit.

Another subplot involves pilot Jimmy Doolittle’s famous bombing raid on Tokyo. The men flying it know they can’t carry enough fuel to get back to the carriers, and they debate even whether they’ll be able to make it to unoccupied Chinese territory before they run out of fuel.

The frontline pilots’ bravery here is augmented by the at times unorthodox thinking of the leaders plotting the Americans’ strategy. They’re willing to take bold risks to succeed, whereas the Japanese leaders are shown to be rigid and inflexible in terms of listening to junior officers’ innovative ideas—ideas that would have circumvented the American trap at Midway. And though generals aren’t necessarily known for their humilty, both Nimitz and Halsey have that quality and are willing to listen and not simply default to conventional wisdom.

When the aircraft carrier Yorktown is badly damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea, Nimitz is told that it will take at least two weeks to make it seaworthy again in drydock at Pearl. Nimitz replies that they have 72 hours to make it happen … and they do.

Throughout the film, Americans exercise bravery and courage in the face of withering enemy fire. One captured American bravely refuses to divulge any information to his Japanese captors. We also get small glimpses into the lives of Navy wives stationed at Pearl Harbor as they stoically shoulder the burden of the risks their husbands are taking. Both Dick Best’s wife, Ann, and Edwin Layton’s wife, Dagne, do everything they can to encourage and support their husbands.

Spiritual Elements

A sailor who says he doesn’t believe in God complains about having to set up chairs on the deck of the U.S.S. Arizona for a chapel service.

We hear two earnest exclamations of “Thank God!” and another of “God bless them.” One pilot is said to be the godfather of another’s daughter. The Japanese Emperor is referred to as a “heavenly sovereign.”

Reflecting on the uncertainty of life and death, one sailor tells another, “You never know what’s going to get you, so why worry about it.”

Sexual Content

We see Ann Best and Dagne Layton in nightgowns. Dick and Ann cuddle in bed together, but things never proceed further than that onscreen. Married couples are shown kissing a couple of times.

We hear a sarcastic reference to a pilot who has a reputation for “chasing tail.”

Violent Content

Midway is a war movie. As such, we see many intense images involving naval combat and the casualties it claims.

Vulnerable sailors are shot by Japanese fighters at Pearl Harbor. Explosions and fire rend ships and kill many men. (We see several completely charred corpses in a Naval infirmary.) Multiple men experience terrible burns. Some pilots are shot and killed in their planes. Scores more are shot out of the sky, their planes incinerated by artillery or strafed by bullets. Wounded planes that don’t explode outright often plunge into the ocean more or less intact. (One crew manages to escape in a life raft.) After the attack on Pearl Harbor, an orderly says that they have been carrying in body parts in pillowcases.

Multiple ships get bombed, torpedoed and filled with bullet holes, exploding spectacularly. One Japanese admiral chooses to go down with his mortally wounded carrier, and a junior officer insists on going with him.

Japanese pilots also shoot and bomb villages in occupied mainland China. In retribution for Jimmy Doolittle’s raid, we’re told that the Japanese killed some 250,000 Chinese in the region where Doolittle and his men bailed out. We see piles of rotting Chinese corpses in a village hut.

The Japanese also execute a captured American pilot brutally by pushing him into the ocean, then dropping an anchor in after him that’s tied to his leg, dragging him to a watery grave.

One pilot’s oxygen container is contaminated with a chemical that destroys his lungs and causes him to cough up blood.

Crude or Profane Language

One f-word, five s-words. God’s name is paired with “d–n” half a dozen times. Jesus’ name is misused twice. We hear about 15 uses of “h—” and 10 or so of “d–n.” Sailors angrily spit the vulgarity “b–tard” five or six times. We hear one to three uses each of “a–,” “a–hole” and “son of a b–ch.” An American calls a Japanese a “little bugger.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Sailors smoke continually throughout the film. Several scenes involve sailors and wives drinking alcoholic beverages at Pearl Harbor’s officers club, on beaches and in other social settings. One sailor drinks from a flask.

At a memorial service for a fallen comrade, U.S. sailors fondly recall beer-drinking exploits in Canada during Prohibition. (Sailors raise shots in his memory.)

An admiral is shown taking prescription medication.

Other Negative Elements

For reasons that are never clearly spelled out, one U.S. fighter pilot tells the wife of another how reckless her husband is in battle. It’s unclear whether he’s interested in the man’s wife, but for some reason he wants to undermine their relationship.

American film director John Ford arrives at Midway to shoot fake battle scenes immediately before the real battle commences. He’s urged to take cover, but he instructs his cameramen to capture the battle from a very exposed promontory.

“This is our job. And we’re the guys who have to hold the fort until the cavalry arrives.”

That’s the pep talk Dick Best gives a petrified pilot before the final battle commences at Midway. And it’s also a terrific summary of the no-nonsense bravery exhibited by the sailors and pilots whose stories are woven together heroically here. These men had a job to do. And they did it, bravely, willingly. It was a job that cost 307 of them their lives.

But their sacrifice, movingly depicted by director Roland Emmerich ( Independence Day ), turned the tide in the Pacific. It was the beginning of the end for the Japanese Navy. It represented the awakened giant of Yamamoto’s nightmares.

Midway is a deeply inspiring movie. It’s also a war movie, though, with all of the content that comes with it. Many men die. And we’re reminded of where the phrase “swears like a sailor” came from, because there’s plenty of language here, too.

Some viewers may not want to endure the verbal assault that goes along with the visual one here. But those who do choose to sit through this dramatization of the greatest naval battle in U.S. history will be profoundly reminded of the cost to secure the liberties that Americans—and many other people around the world—cherish.

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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'Holes' stars and creators share 26 little-known facts even die-hard fans may not know about the film

• Insider spoke with the writer, creators, and stars of "Holes" 20 years after the film premiered. 
• Louis Sachar almost didn't write the screenplay, and there were other stars up for leading roles. 
• The cast and crew spent months in the desert, and the kids had to go to boot camp before filming.

Andrew Davis said he wasn't the only director vying for the rights to "Holes."

"Holes" author Louis Sachar told Insider that once his young-adult novel won a National Book Award and a Newberry Medal, directors and producers wanted to buy the rights to turn it into a film. 

"I remember my wife and I were excited at firs, but then just kind of got pretty jaded by the whole thing," he said.

Among the flock of directors was Davis, who had recently directed "The Fugitive." 

"At the time, Louis told us that the Coen brothers and Rob Reiner were also interested in it, and the reason that he let me do it was because of 'The Fugitive.'" the director said.

"I always liked the idea of working with Andy because I went and watched a lot of his movies, and I was really impressed by how gripping they were," Sachar added. "I didn't want someone to make it into a fluffy children's story. I wanted it to be gritty and tough."

Sachar almost didn't write the screenplay.

Davis told Insider that Disney executives originally hired someone else to write the screenplay for "Holes."

"That writer came back with this insanely dark, dystopian film not even anywhere close to the story," producer Teresa Tucker-Davies added.

"At that point, I said, 'You know what? Louis should get credit for this. They're his characters, it's his story,'" Davis said.

Sachar told Insider, "Andy was persistent in having me write the screenplay. At the time, I didn't realize just how special that was — he was really going out on a limb for me."

The writer said he sat down with Davis and Tucker-Davies to storyboard the whole script on 3-by-5 index cards before writing his first draft. 

"All this was new to me, but 'Holes' is the only book of mine that's ever been made into a movie, so I wanted it done right," Sachar said. 

Sachar was on set and involved throughout the entirety of filming.

Beyond writing the screenplay, Sachar was on set throughout the filming process. At times, Davis turned to him for input.

"I didn't want to use voiceover. Andy kept saying there has to be some narrator somewhere, and I kept arguing that there was no one," Sachar said. "For the most part, I won that battle. There's some voiceover at the beginning and end, but not much — he wanted it throughout."

But the author also said he learned to pick his battles on set. 

"They'd shoot a scene, and I'd maybe have some thoughts on it. But Andy would suddenly be surrounded by the camerapeople, the producers, the actors, all having questions and things to say," he told Insider. "I learned to wait until there was something I really felt strongly about to try to interject."

The young actors also had to read the book and take a quiz.

Davis was committed to making "Holes" a successful book-to-movie adaptation , which also involved some studying before filming began. 

"We had to read the book and take a quiz on it and everything," Miguel Castro, who played Magnet, told Insider. "The only two books I ever read in my life are 'Holes' and 'Harry Potter.'"

The made a last-minute cameo in the film.

Davis told Sachar that he'd put him and his family in the movie, but the writer didn't get any notice before his big moment.

"There was one scene where Sam is selling onions to a bald guy to make his hair grow — that happened to be the day Andy remembered he promised to put me in the movie," Sachar said. "Because it wasn't in the script, I was the only bald person on set."

The writer, his wife, and his daughter were all in costume as extras that day, and Sachar said he was glad he didn't know his cameo was going to happen beforehand. 

"I would've practiced my one line in the mirror until the words had no meaning left," he told Insider.

When it came to the editing process, Sachar added, "I'd always keep my fingers crossed to see if my part was still there."

Tim Blake Nelson almost turned down his role as Dr. Pendanski.

Nelson told Insider that when Davis originally offered him the role of Dr. Pendanski in "Holes," he wasn't sure he was going to accept. 

"I hadn't read the novel yet. I didn't quite get the character as scripted, and my initial inclination was to say no," the actor said. 

But Davis' commitment to capturing the complexities of the story, Sachar's help fleshing out the character, and other big names joining the cast eventually persuaded Nelson. 

"It was one of the best decisions I've ever made," he told Insider. "I can't imagine the depth of regret I would have felt if I'd then gone to see the movie with my children, and I missed out on getting to play the role."

Castro auditioned for his role a second time after initially getting rejected.

The first time Castro auditioned to play Magnet, he went through his agent.

"I didn't book anything," he told Insider. "I was horrible."

But the production team was also traveling around to different high schools, including Castro's in South LA, and his teacher helped him get in front of the casting directors for a second time. 

"I guess they forgot who I was," he said. " I got a callback from school, not from my agent."

Khleo Thomas was up against a lot of competition for Zero, including Tahj Mowry.

When Khleo Thomas showed up for his chemistry test, his character, Zero, had the longest list of auditioning actors under it. Among his competitors, he said, was Tahj Mowry, who at the time was well known for starring on The WB's "Smart Guy."

Eventually, Thomas got his chance to read alongside Shia LaBeouf . 

"Everyone else got to do multiple different things," he told Insider. "I only got a chance to do one thing — sit next to Shia and go through the scene of Stanley teaching Zero how to read."

The casting directors had them improvise the scene instead of reading from the script. 

"Shia and I just had chemistry," Thomas said. "We immediately connected, and the rest is history."

It's possible that Frankie Muniz could've played Stanley.

Castro told Insider that when he was in his final round of callbacks, he was told Muniz was going to be starring as Stanley. 

"But Frankie took 'Cody Banks' because it was gonna be a two-part series, and they couldn't match the millions," the actor said. 

The part, instead, went to LaBeouf. 

Davis' real-life father played Stanley's grandfather in the movie.

Stanley's grandfather was played by Nathan Davis, the director's father. 

Adding the grandpa to the story was one of the big deviations from the plot of the book, but Louis said he was on board because it helped to tie together some of the bigger generational divides in the story. 

"My father was a very well-respected Chicago theater actor," Davis told Insider. "He had had a little stroke, and we were concerned that he couldn't do it, but he was fantastic."

Nelson spent more time hanging out with the kids on set than Jon Voight and Sigourney Weaver.

Nelson was in his late 30s when he starred in "Holes," placing him in between the ages of the child actors and the veterans, like Weaver and Voight. 

"I spent a lot of time with Shia and Khleo, and I gravitated toward that," he told Insider. "I was kind of more comfortable being in their presence in terms of status."

The actor added that he would play football and Wiffle ball with the young stars. 

"It was easier for me to be around the younger cast because I was initially less intimidated," Nelson said. "And then, eventually, I did start spending time with Jon, and we became friends."

"Holes" was shot in the desert, and the cast and crew had to deal with scorching temperatures and sandstorms.

"Holes" was filmed between Hollywood sound stages; the Disney Ranch in Santa Clarita, California; and Ridgewood, California.

For the portion in the desert, Davis said they mainly scouted locations around Cuddeback dry lake bed, a missile-testing location for the US Navy.

Castro told Insider that the pressing desert heat posed challenges during filming.

"We got to a point where we were hitting 104 degrees, and it was nothing to us anymore — that was a chill day," he said. "I remember one day was 119 degrees. I thought they were gonna cancel the filming, but we all agreed to knock it out. I was hallucinating, and I started seeing water, a swimming pool."

Sandstorms also got in the cast and crew's way.

"I remember a lot of dirt," Dulé Hill, who played Sam the Onion Man, told Insider. "I remember there were times when a dust storm would be coming in, and we'd have to run indoors or get inside a car or something."

"The kids were brave, but I'm kind of a wimp," Tucker-Davies added. "When dust storms came up, even though I was a full-fledged producer on the film, I'm embarrassed to admit that I just went to my trailer because it was brutal."

The kids had to do an extensive boot camp before filming.

Before spending three months filming in the desert, the kids in the cast had to go through special training. 

"We had to do six to eight weeks in boot camp," Castro said, adding, "We had to get prepared to be under weather conditions of 115 degrees Fahrenheit and higher."

The actor told Insider they had to run about 4 to 6 miles a day, and Davis said the film's stunt coordinator taught them how to dig holes.

"I remember when they put us in front of a rope on the first day, no one had the strength to go up the rope," Castro said. "At the end of the boot camp, everybody was running up that rope."

Thomas and LaBeouf didn't really have to eat onions.

In one of the pivotal scenes of the film, Stanley and Zero find wild onions to eat while they're stranded out in the desert. But they weren't really chomping down on onions, that was just movie magic. 

"It was an apple that was propped up very neatly to have the layer of an 'onion.'" Thomas told Insider. "It was made of like edible paper and purple food coloring."

Hill wasn't a fan of working with his character's donkey.

There were a number of creatures on the set of "Holes," but Hill didn't love working with his character's donkey. 

"I can't say that that was enjoyable, I mean, they get the name jackass for a reason," he told Insider.

He recalled a particularly difficult scene where Sam is standing out in the desert with the donkey watching Stanley's bus drive by. 

"Even trying to get the donkey into the right position was a huge challenge," Hill said.

Castro said he refused to do scenes with reptiles.

In addition to donkeys, there were plenty of reptiles on the "Holes" set, including rattlesnakes and lizards. But Castro wasn't a fan of them.

The actor said he told the production team, "I'll go running in my boxers, but don't put me around those reptiles."

Luckily, he didn't have to film anything around the animals. 

The production team had to protect native lizards in one of their filming locations.

While filming in the Mojave Desert, producer Marty P. Ewing said, the production team butted heads a little with the Bureau of Land Management. 

"The Bureau of Land Management comes in and says, 'Wait a second, we just double-checked our records and we need to prevent the disturbance of these lizards and toads,' or whatever reptile," he said. 

The team had to keep a close eye out throughout filming, and the bureau supervised them every day. 

"I'm just happy that we didn't kill any lizards or toads," the producer told Insider. "I think they would've actually shut us down had we done that."

Siobhan Fallon Hogan said she and Henry Winkler improvised their big scene together.

Hogan played Stanley's mother and acted alongside Winkler in "Holes."

She told Insider that the pair decided to improvise the dance in the scene with her character's iconic line, "I don't smell anything."

"I remember the pot boiling over and the shoe and everything. And then we did the big dance because we wanted to get more screen time," she said. "Henry Winkler needed more screen time, and I was all on board."

The kids started coming up with an original rap for the film before the production team even asked for one.

"Us actually hanging out is what helped make the 'Dig It' song come to life," Thomas told Insider. "We would go to the back of the transportation bus and just freestyle."

The actor said the kids eventually caught the attention of Tucker-Davies. 

"Andy let the boys do it," the producer said. "Of course, they were thrilled because they all had their guitars with them."

Tucker-Davies added that helping to write and organize "Dig It" ended up being her "favorite experience of the movie."

Davis made his own trailer for the movie, but it was never used.

When it came time to promote the film, Davis said he wasn't convinced that Disney understood the material. He called the first trailer the studio made "so corny."

"I had my own trailer, which had no narration. It was just abstract and these wonderful images of kids that my editor Tom Norberg put together," the director told Insider. "The head of Disney's marketing at the time said no. We ended up with a compromise I wasn't really happy with it, but it worked."

Davis added, "The good thing was 'Holes' had a built-in audience because the book was so popular."

Thomas said he wasn't allowed back into his middle school after "Holes."

Thomas filmed "Holes" in the summer after seventh grade. But when it came time to finish middle school the next year, he said, he was turned away. 

"Somebody let them know that I was in a film that was based on a book, and they didn't want me to be a distraction," he said. "So they pretty much told me I couldn't come back to school."

He told Insider he was homeschooled instead.

Castro got some special treatment when the "Holes" promotional posters went up.

Castro told Insider about his first experience seeing the "Holes" promotional posters in a movie theater before the film was released. 

"My eyes got watery. I was like, 'Why am I the chosen one to do this? From all these Hispanic kids, why does it have to be me?'" he said.

The actor said he asked the theater employee if he could buy the poster, but he was told that the theater throws them away after the promotion is over. Luckily, his costar Max Kasch's mom gave him a copy of his individual Magnet poster.

Castro said he and his date also got to see a movie for free that day once he told the employee who he was. 

Hill paid homage to "Holes" on "Psych."

In the early 2000s, Hill was probably best known for playing Charlie Young on NBC's "The West Wing." But after "Holes," he went on to star on USA's "Psych" for eight seasons. 

"We paid homage to 'Holes' on one of the episodes," the actor said. "Shawn was trying to get me to remember the film with Shia LaBeouf about a bunch of holes, and my character, Gus, didn't know what he was talking about."

Castro said he still gets in character a few times a year.

Even 20 years later, Castro said he still assumes the role of Magnet on occasion. 

"Here in my community, when the elementary schools are reading the book, I go to support them," he told Insider. "I put my jumpsuit on, put my bandana on, shave my beard, and I make it happen for these kids."

Sachar wanted the ending of the film to be different.

Sachar told Insider that didn't win all of his battles on set. 

"I remember there was discussion about whether the Warden and Mr. Sir and Dr. Pendanski should all be arrested at the end. Both Sigourney Weaver and I thought she'd suffered enough and that it was just kind of redundant to have her then arrested," the writer said. "Jon Voigt and Andy were of the other opinion."

The production team went forward with the arrest at the end , and according to Davis, the officer was actually played by the film's stunt coordinator, Alex Daniels.

There was almost a sequel to "Holes."

"Right after the movie came out, people wanted me to write a sequel," Sachar told Insider. "To me, it felt like the story was done, and it was done well. I didn't wanna diminish it at all with some sequel that wouldn't live up to it."

But the writer also said he's heard talk over the years of doing a new series based on "Holes" that focuses on a girls' correctional camp. 

"If they're gonna do something like that, I think I'd almost rather someone else do it," Sachar said. "I've done 'Holes' too much. I did the book, I did the movie, I did the play based on the book — it's not fresh to me anymore at all."

Meghan Cook contributed to reporting for this story. 

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Movie Review: ‘The Garfield Movie’ is a bizarre animated tale that’s not pur-fect in any way

This image released by Sony Pictures shows characters Odie, voiced by Harvey Guillén, from left, Vic, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, and Garfield, voiced by Chris Pratt, in a scene from the animated film “The Garfield Movie.” (Columbia Pictures/Sony via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows characters Vic, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, right, and Garfield, voiced by Chris Pratt, in a scene from the animated film “The Garfield Movie.” (Columbia Pictures/Sony via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Garfield, voiced by Chris Pratt, in a scene from the animated film “The Garfield Movie.” (Columbia Pictures/Sony via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows characters Jon, voiced by Nicholas Hoult, clockwise from left, Vic, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, and Garfield, voiced by Chris Pratt, in a scene from the animated film “The Garfield Movie.” (Columbia Pictures/Sony via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows characters Jon, voiced by Nicholas Hoult, left, and Garfield, voiced by Chris Pratt, in a scene from the animated film “The Garfield Movie.” (Columbia Pictures/Sony via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows characters Odie, voiced by Harvey Guillén, left, and Garfield, voiced by Chris Pratt, in a scene from the animated film “The Garfield Movie.” (Columbia Pictures/Sony via AP)

From left, Chris Pratt, Hannah Waddingham, Garfield and Jim Davis attend the premiere of “The Garfield Movie” on Sunday, May 19, 2024, at TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Hannah Waddingham, right, poses for photographers during a photo call for the film ‘The Garfield Movie’ on Friday, May 10, 2024 in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt, left, and Chris Pratt arrive at the premiere of “The Garfield Movie” on Sunday, May 19, 2024, at TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Chris Pratt arrives at the premiere of “The Garfield Movie” on Sunday, May 19, 2024, at TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Hannah Waddingham arrives at the premiere of “The Garfield Movie,” Sunday, May 19, 2024, at TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

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If you catch the latest Garfield movie, you might not expect to find the famous orange feline at one point running from bad guys on the top of a speeding train. Lasagna eating? Sure. But any sort of cardio?

Then prepare for “The Garfield Movie,” a curious new animated attempt to monetize the comic icon again by giving him an origin story and then asking him to do things a galaxy away from what he does in the funny pages. It’s like if Snoopy ran an underground bare-knuckle fight club.

Chris Pratt voices the Monday-hating, self-centered hero and Samuel L. Jackson animates his long-lost father, who abandoned Garfield in an alley one rainy night, leading to lifelong trauma. That may explain his endless appetite, to fill the void of parental neglect. What does “The Garfield Movie” say about that idea? Are you kidding?

“The Garfield Movie,” directed by Mark Dindal, reunites Garfield and his not-so-savory dad — there’s no mention of a mom and there are shades of the plots from “Kung Fu Panda 3” and “Chicken Run” — as he gets caught up in a criminal plot to raid a corporate dairy and steal thousands of gallons of milk.

Sorry, what was that? Garfield is perhaps the most indoor cat in history and seeing him dodge massive chopping blades or boulders onscreen is just plain weird. Making it even weirder is that his partner Odie — traditionally a drooling idiot — is remade here as highly competent, perhaps even a savant. This is not canon.

The movie gets mildly amusing as it recreates the kind of vent-crawling, security guard-avoiding heist in the dairy along to the theme from “Mission: Impossible” and that’s largely because the gang is being directed by a bull voiced by Ving Rhames, a veteran of that franchise. There are also nods to “Top Gun”: I do my own stunts,” Garfield says. “Me and Tom Cruise.”

The script — by Paul A. Kaplan, Mark Torgove and David Reynolds— grounds the movie firmly in today, with Garfield using food delivery phone apps and Bluetooth, watching Catflix and characters declaring that they are “self-actualized.” There’s also some pretty awkward product placement, like for Olive Garden, that may not send the message they wanted.

This is the part when we talk about food abuse. Garfield has a bit of a problem on this front, and the filmmakers more than lean into it. Thousands of pounds of junk food get inhaled by the tabby, but not salad. Heaven is described as an “all-you-can-eat buffet in the sky” and cheese is Garfield’s “love language.” It’s the laziest kind of writing.

From left, Chris Pratt, Hannah Waddingham, Garfield and Jim Davis in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

There’s a mini “Ted Lasso” reunion when Hannah Waddingham (playing a psychotic gang leader) and Brett Goldstein (as her henchman) appear, while Snoop Dogg has a cameo as the voice of a one-eyed cat and offers a song that runs over the credits.

The animation is pretty great — the backgrounds, at least. Ladders show rust and forests are lush, but then the main characters are a step or two less realized, more cartoonish. Jim Davis, who created Garfield, is an executive producer so he must be OK with all of this, a forgettable, unfunny animated slog. At one point, Garfield says “Bury me in cheese” and that seems a fitting final resting place for this cat’s film career.

“The Garfield Movie,” a Columbia Pictures release that opens in movie theaters Friday, is rated PG for “mild thematic elements, action and peril.” Running time: 101 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

MPAA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.

Online: https://www.garfield.movie

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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School of Magical Animals 2

The students of the school of magical animals want to perform a musical for the school's anniversary. Will the rehearsals end in chaos or will the class pull together? And what's up with the... Read all The students of the school of magical animals want to perform a musical for the school's anniversary. Will the rehearsals end in chaos or will the class pull together? And what's up with the strange holes on the school grounds? The students of the school of magical animals want to perform a musical for the school's anniversary. Will the rehearsals end in chaos or will the class pull together? And what's up with the strange holes on the school grounds?

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‘The Substance’ Review: Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley in a Visionary Feminist Body-Horror Film That Takes Cosmetic Enhancement to Extremes

Coralie Fargeat works with the flair of a grindhouse Kubrick in a weirdly fun, cathartically grotesque fusion of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "Showgirls."

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

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“The Substance” tells the story of an aging Hollywood actress-turned-aerobics-workout-host, named Elisabeth Sparkle and played by Demi Moore , who gets fired from a TV network because she is now deemed too old. In a rage of desperation, she calls a number that’s been handed to her anonymously and gets hooked up with a sinister sci-fi body-enhancement program known as The Substance. She is given a heap of medical equipment sealed into plastic bags (syringes, tubing, a phosphorescent green liquid, a gooey white injectable food product), and she’s told about the protocol regarding her new self — which, the program warns, will also be her old self. “The two of you are one,” say the instructions. What does that mean?

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Fargeat, who has made one previous feature (2017’s “Revenge”), works in a wide-angle-lens, up-from-exploitation style that might be described as cartoon grindhouse Kubrick. It’s like “A Clockwork Orange” fused with the kinetic aesthetics of a state-of-the-art television commercial. Fargeat favors super-close-ups (of body parts, cars, eating, kissing), with sounds to match, and she also vacuums up influences the way Brian De Palma once did (though he, in this case, is one of them). We’ve all seen dozens of retreads of the Jekyll-and-Hyde story, but Fargeat, in her imaginative audacity, fuses it with “Showgirls,” and even that isn’t enough for her. She draws heavily on the hallucinatory moment in “The Shining” where Jack Torrance embraces a young woman in a bathtub, only to see her transformed into a cackling old crone. Beyond that, Fargeat‘s images recall the exploding-beast-with-a-writhing-face in John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” the bloodbath prom of “Carrie,” and the addiction-turned-dread of “Requiem for a Dream.”

What makes all of this original is that Coralie Fargeat fuses it with her own stylized aggro voice (she favors minimal dialogue, which pops like something out of a graphic novel), and with her feminist outrage over the way that women have been ruled by the world of images. At first, though, the over-the-top-ness does take a bit of getting used. Dennis Quaid plays the brash pig of a network executive, in baroquely decorated suit jackets, who has decided to fire Elisabeth, and when he’s having lunch with her, shoving shrimp in his mouth from what feels like four inches away from the audience, you want to recoil as much as she does. But Fageat is actually great with her actors; she knows that Quaid’s charisma, even when he’s playing a showbiz vulgarian as reprehensible as this, will make him highly watchable.

And Demi Moore’s performance is nothing short of fearless. She’s playing, in some very abstract way, a version of herself (once a star at the center of the universe, now old enough to be seen by sexist Hollywood as past it), and her acting is rippled with anger, terror, despair, and vengeance. There’s a lot of full-on nudity in “The Substance,” to the point that the film flirts with building a male gaze into the foundation of its aesthetic. Yet it does so only to pull the rug of voyeurism out from under us. Margaret Qualley makes Sue crisply magnetic in her confidence, and the fact that Sue knows how to package herself as an “object” is part of the film’s satirical design. She’s following the rules, “giving the people what they want.” It’s clear, I think, that Qualley is going to be a major star, and you see why here. She takes this stylized role and imbues it with a hint of mystery. For “The Substance” is finally a story of dueling egos, with Elisabeth’s real self and her enhanced self going at each other in a war for dominance.

“The Substance” does indeed play off “Showgirls” and the whole history of Hollywood cat-fight melodramas. The movie, in its visceral way, is deliriously ambitious (and, at 140 minutes, easily 20 minutes too long). But as it moves into the final chapter, its relatively restrained interface with body horror erupts into something cathartic in its extremity. Sue, at this point, has taken most of the life from Elisabeth, which means that Elisabeth has turned into a body so decrepit she makes the bathtub hag in “The Shining” look like Grace Kelly. But Fargeat is just getting started. The climactic sequence is set during the taping of the network’s New Year’s Eve special, which Sue has been chosen to host, and what happens there must be seen to be believed. Even if you watch horror movies all year long, this is still one of the rare ones to come up with a true monster , not just a mass of warped flesh but a deformation of the spirit. This, the film says, is what we’re repressing. It’s what we’re doing to ourselves.

Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (Competition), May 19, 2024. Running time: 140 MIN.

• Production: (U.K.-U.S.-France) A Mubi release of a Working Title Films, A Good Title production. Producers: Coralie Fargeat, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner. Executive producers: Alexandra Loewy, Nicolas Royer.
• Crew: Director, screenplay: Coralie Fargeat. Camera: Benjamin Kracun. Editor: Jérôme Eltabet. Music: 000 Raffertie.
• With: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Hugo Diego Garcia, Phillip Schurer, Joseph Balderrama, Oscar Lesage, Gore Abrams, Magtthew Géczy.

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In Theaters

• Jennifer Lopez as Atlas Shepherd; Simu Liu as Harlan; Sterling K. Brown as Colonel Elias Banks; Mark Strong as General Jake Boothe; Lana Parrilla as Val Shepherd; Gregory James Cohan as the voice of Smith; Abraham Popoola as Casca

Home Release Date

• May 24, 2024
• Brad Peyton

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Movie review.

Atlas Shepherd is a gifted analyst for the International Coalition of Nations (ICN). She’s prickly, untrusting and very difficult to get along with. But she’s respected for her experience and skills. And well she should be. After all, the problem that the ICN was created to fight all started, in a way, with her.

Back when Atlas was just a girl, her mother, Val Shepherd, was a groundbreaking scientist who championed the development of neural links, taking human/AI interaction to new heights.

Val created “Harlan,” a truly sentient robotic man. Atlas was, in a sense, raised alongside Harlan as a sibling. There were servant robots before, but Harlan was something no one had ever dreamed of.  

However, that robotic dream became a nightmare. Atlas was part of a mishap that transformed Harlan into what amounted to the first AI terrorist. He killed Val Shepherd … and millions of others. He raised up an army of AI fighters and used his strategic brilliance to spread terror around the globe

The ICN was created to deal with that terror. They were, in fact, so effective that Harlan was forced to flee Earth. He’s been hiding somewhere in space for the last 28 years.

In all that time, Atlas Shepherd has been searching. She’s helped the ICN develop Earth safety measures. She’s sought out clues to the robot’s whereabouts. And she’s devised scenarios to deal with his potential moves. Harlan is still the greatest threat that mankind has ever faced. And he promised to come back and finish what he started. He will be back.

Out of the blue, one of Harlan’s robotic lieutenants shows up on Earth. Was he scouting for a new attack? After a great battle, the robot is captured. Atlas outfoxes the AI bot and discovers Harlan’s current location: the unexplored and generally uninhabitable planet GR-39.

This could be the break that the ICN has been looking for. It could also be … a trap. But whatever it is, the ICN rangers and their neural linked robotic ARC suits are convinced they’re up for the task.

Atlas isn’t so sure.

But she’s worked so long for this moment that she won’t be left behind. She’ll be there and face this AI demon, win or lose.

Positive Elements

Atlas is driven by a desire to protect others (albeit with an unspoken desire for revenge, too). She also shoulders a burden of guilt for the terrible harm she indirectly caused. But someone later assures her that she can’t be held accountable for a childhood mistake.

A man sacrifices his life to give Atlas a chance at escaping danger. When others turn their backs on Atlas because of her prickly nature, an ICN officer, General Boothe, has her back and supports her. She later gratefully thanks him for his friendship.

Spiritual Elements

Atlas was only a young girl when she made a choice (driven by desire for her mom’s attention) that caused Harlan to become evil. The event is presented as almost a transferal of her human sinful nature or awareness—Harlan taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, if you will.

Expanding on that concept, Harlan rises up against his creator. He later says that he desires to destroy mankind as a means to save it. “Since humans continue to threaten every other species as well as their home planet, it’s only a matter of time before they destroy themselves,” he declares.

So, in a twisted bit of religious and environmental logic, he believes that the remnants of humanity will rise again and be at peace with the world around them.

Atlas and an AI program debate what constitutes “life.” For instance, the program, named Smith, states that he thinks that everything has a soul. “You can’t find it in your code,” Atlas retorts. “Not any more than you can find it in yours,” the AI responds. “But I have faith that it is there.”

Early on, Atlas talks to some ICN Rangers and encourages them not to trust their AI-driven ARC suits. The Colonel in charge shuts her down and tells her it isn’t time for any “come-to-Jesus doomsday scenarios.”

Sexual Content

Early on, we see a female-shaped robot on a repair line. The bot’s naked torso is blurred out. Atlas also has a conversation with a AI-driven robotic ARC suit that declares that its gender pronouns are “she, her.”

Violent Content

There’s quite a bit of explosive violence on tap here. We see images of humans and AI battling in city streets, for instance, vehicles exploding and being riddled with large caliber blasts. A powerful AI takes on a dozen police officers shooting them and smashing them headfirst into hallway walls. It’s eventually taken down by a huge electric blast.

Similar battles take place in and around GR-39. Rangers in ARC suits are fired upon by drones as they fall from the sky, and the combat is frantic and explosively destructive. On the ground, Rangers also take on AI robots. We see the aftereffects of the carnage: bloody human bodies lying in shattered ARC suits.

A large ship gets hit with missile fire, and people inside are bashed and battered around by internal explosions. Eventually the ship itself explodes in a massive eruption.

Atlas is thrust into an ARC suit that she doesn’t know how to use. She shot at, riddled with gun fire and subject to high falls and crashes. In the course of all these attacks and falls, she is left bloody from a head wound and suffers a compound fracture of her leg (with a protruding bone). The ARC suit uses internal medical mechanisms to patch her up and reset the bone, while Atlas screams through the painful, lightly bloody procedure.

Atlas and her AI ARC battle a number of different AIs equipped with guns and blades. One powerful unit uses its flaming blade to hack away limbs and large chunks of the suit. Some AI opponents are hit with a large bomb that literally obliterates them. Two different people are strapped to tables, and a sharp needle probe is stuck into their eye. (In one case the camera angle obscures the probe’s entry, in the other the camera cuts away just as the needle touches.)

We’re told that in the course of Harlan’s terrorist activities on Earth at least 4 million people were killed. Humanlike AI robot heads are crushed, impaled and sizzled with electric blasts. In some cases, eyes are blown out or fall out of their sockets. Etc.

Crude or Profane Language

There are three f-words (two spoken, one written) and more than a dozen s-words in the dialogue. Those are joined by multiple uses of “d–n” and “b–ch.” God’s and Jesus’ names are misused a total of 14 times (“God” blended with “d–n” on half of those).

Drug and Alcohol Content

Atlas’ ARC suit injects her with pain medication and sprays her open wound with something else. Atlas is warned about her constant overconsumption of coffee.

Other Negative Elements

The movie Atlas has an interesting sci-fi premise. And star Jennifer Lopez—who spends much of the movie by herself in an ARC suit cockpit—does a solid job of conveying the tension and emotion of the film. Atlas also asks provocative questions about the wisdom of embracing the future of AI—painting a picture of the created rising against its creator with something of a twisted religious fervor.

That said, the film feels like it’s missing a few nuts and bolts in strategic places. Or maybe its circuit diagram should have been checked once or twice more: The logic of the tale doesn’t always line up. The connection between the hero and the villain feels paper thin and given short shrift.

Perhaps most importantly, some of the stab-an-eyeball violence and profane language here will likely make this pic a nonstarter for family audiences.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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