Holes (2003)

directed by Andrew Davis

Nicole Klett

It wouldn’t be possible now. Getting a bus full of fifth graders up at the crack of dawn to drive three and a half hours for a field trip to the beach and back in one day. This was obviously pre-pandemic. 2014. When you could do such things.

My fifth grader’s class trip to the North Carolina coast was finally upon us. As chaperones, we were invited to ride on the chartered bus with the kids and teachers. There would be snacks. There would also be those screens that hang down every five to six rows, achieving multiple opportunities to get anything but a good view of a movie playing on the DVD player at the front of the bus. Appropriate DVDs could be shared for the whole bus to enjoy, aka kid-friendly choices.

Surprisingly, the promise of movies to pass the time on the road did not excite me. Mainly because the movies were geared toward the fifth graders. And before you start to judge, I’m a big kid, really. But after parenting three children and viewing scores and scores of mediocre kid-centered attempts at entertainment, I was weary of spending hours watching mind-numbing animation on a bus full of loud and, let’s be honest, slightly smelly, pre-pubescents.

Not to mention the fact that kids still retain the ability to think abstractly, which often leads to movies that are a surreal mess and make me consider whether I need to partake in some sort of mind-altering substance before attempting to view.

Anyway, when my precious fifth grader decided on bringing the movie Holes as her offering to her class, I didn’t think much of it beyond, meh. In full transparency, I had “seen” the movie previously, though not in a sit-down-and-watch-it-beginning-to-end way. More in a I’m-making-dinner-and-it’s-on-in-the-background-entertaining-the-kids way. I could hear the music and some of the dialogue and would look up occasionally to view a snippet of a scene. So, I guess I hadn’t really seen it at all. Nor had I read the Louis Sachar book it was based on. And yet my kids had put this movie on again and again. Something about it seemed to reel them in.

But getting back to the bus. There we were hurtling down Interstate 40 back towards the research triangle area after a very full day. We learned about zooplankton and looked at them under the microscope. We caught blue crabs and let them go. We walked the beach and spotted dolphins and seaweed. We went to the aquarium and pointed at the jellyfish and sharks. We had a fast slice of pizza and were herded back on the bus to head home. It was time to settle in.

The movies on the way to this adventurous day were mainly animated from a well-known brand name that rhymes with “his knee”. These movies throw the adults a bone every once in a while with references that are above the kids’ heads as if to say, “Hey, you’re not completely wasting your time and money here guys, we see you.” These movies intimate that adults are enduring ninety minutes of material that is not for them; rather, this material is aimed at those who still retain magical thinking.

My daughter’s impatience had been growing as her contribution to the DVD choices had not been picked and then, as the sun was setting and kiddos were easing into the bliss of full tummies and energy expended, the time had come at last.

“Let’s put on Holes!” a boy exclaimed with supportive noises made by the other ten- and eleven-year-olds. My daughter beamed as she brought up her choice to the front of the bus. Soon, the previews of other movies released that same year flickered on the screen, like Daddy Day Care. (Oh, you don’t remember that Eddie Murphy vehicle? No harm, no foul.)

And I realized at that moment that I was about to watch Holes. Like, really watch it. Watch the whole thing. From beginning to end.  There was no dinner to be made. It was too dark to read, even if I didn’t get carsick reading. There was no talking on the cell phone (rude much?). There was no talking to my daughter because obviously she was sitting with her friends.

With nothing left to do but watch, I watched. And here’s the thing. I watched until I didn’t watch. Meaning at some point, I wasn’t just watching or tolerating this film. At some point, I was transported along with all the kids on the bus as we were being transported along the highway.

It sounds corny, I know. But it finally occurred to me that the reason my kids were so interested in Holes was that it’s a story well-told. Not to kids, not to adults. Just a story well-told to all. Actually, a story within a story within a story. It’s a host of characters that are intertwined in relation and relationships dealing with the complexities of being human. It doesn’t shy away from topics that are hard or uncomfortable or not especially translatable to cartoon speak.

Don’t worry. I’m not going to summarize the movie for you. There’s too much to cover and I wouldn’t do it justice. We’ve got a western, a fairy tale, a love story, a buddy movie and more. We travel in a time machine to centuries ago and back to present day. We see the injustice of racism, the roots of family and tradition, the complications of doing the right thing, as well as the consequences of not, and looking at the long game with hope, especially when there isn’t a lot of reason to hope.

And all of that without animation, big blasts, cheap laughs or pretending that all wrongs can be easily fixed. Sure, there is some magical realism (it’s a kids book, after all) but this live action film’s magic is in its reality and its relatability. Not only portraying the seemingly-out-of-nowhere unfairness that being a kid can entail, but also the very scary issues that the #adulting world will usher forth eventually as well. There isn’t sugar-coating. And that’s what I think resonates the most with the kids—with all of us really.

This movie isn’t patronizing to kids while winking at the adults as so many films do that aim for success in the “family” film demographic. I always thought this film was another one of “those kids movies” that didn’t give kids the credit they deserve for being able to handle more than we adults think. But Holes knows that they get it. Heck, they live in this world, too. It’s not like they don’t know how it works. Kids are smart. Probably smarter than us grown-ups.

There it is. I finally get it. Why my kids were attracted to this movie of all the movies we had on streaming platforms, DVDs and dare I say, VHS tapes. Kids are capable of balancing fantasy and reality at the same time. It doesn’t have to be either/or. Here’s to more PG movies that walk and chew gum at the same time.

It took me way too long to get around to watching Holes. If you haven’t watched it yet, let me ask you something. Are you as smart as a fifth grader?

Nicole Klett is a freelance writer specializing in books and book adaptations. She serves on her local library’s advisory board and advocates for diversity in library and school collections. Find her at https://nicoleklettwriting.com/