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REVIEWSPREVIEWS: Holes
Louis Sachar adapts his own popular older kids’ novel into a screenplay in the latest Walt Disney presentation Holes. The movie targets younger viewers specifically but has enough material to entertain older ones as well. The basic problem with the movie is that it is does not have a central focus. Rather, it is divided into many subplots, allowing one’s attention to wander throughout.
Stanley Yelnat’s (Shia LaBeouf) family was cursed years ago and whatever the family members try and do never turns out right. We learn about this ancient curse through a flashback. Due to this hex, Stanley is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of shoes which actually came flying to him! As a punishment, he is sent to a detention camp in the middle of the desert where he is made to dig holes with the rest of his camp-mates as a ‘character building exercise.’ The boys have to bear with the horrible desert creatures and the diabolical warden (Sigourney Weaver) and her assistants who order them to report if they find anything special.
In summary, the movie tells three main stories: Stanley’s time at camp, the origin of the curse with his great-grandfather and the interracial love affair of a bandit, Kissin’ Kate Barlow, who kisses the men she kills.
Everything seems to be peripheral when the focus is divided into so many things. Sachar should have differentiated between a movie and a novel. Multiple subplots do not appeal as easily in movies as in novels. Also, without any character background, the incidents register a very dilute impact.—Azeem Haider
Poolhall Junkies
Poolhall Junkies is director-actor Mars Callahan’s version of The Hustler or The Colour of Money. Attempting to achieve what Sylvester Stallone did with Rocky, Callahan stars, writes and directs this low-budget tough guy flick. He plays poolhall manager Rod Steiger, an ‘I’m-too-cool-for-these-losers’ pool shark who dreams of becoming a legit pro, but has to fight off his hustling mentor (Chazz Palminteri) who doesn’t want his star to rise. In an attempt to ensure success, Callahan has cast big, bad Christopher Walken as his white knight and Clint Eastwood’s daughter Alison as his token law school girlfriend.
The film never gains the rhythm or magic of the aforementioned classic Paul Newman hustler flicks. In fact, this unoriginal film should have gone directly to video. Walken had a much more unforgettable role as the dancer in Fatboy Slim’s Weapon of Choice video than the two-dimensional part he plays here. Callahan’s debut effort is far from inspired, with its empty tough-guy gestures and overacting. Poolhall Junkies simply misses the cue.—T.U. Dawood
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