One of those rare kids' movies that really does appeal to a wide audience, "Holes" is the story of one kid's adventures at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility in the middle of a dried-up Texas lake bed.


That the movie has the depth and characters of good literature is totally intentional. After all, it's based on the 1998 Newbery-winning novel by Louis Sachar, who also wrote the screenplay. The movie's mix of comedy, drama, mystery and adventure should be a welcome change from the preteen pablum of "What a Girl Wants" and "Agent Cody Banks."

Stanley Yelnats (Shia LaBeouf) is sent to Camp Green Lake after being falsely accused of stealing a pair of celebrity sneakers. He and the other boys at the camp spend each blistering day digging another hole in the desert, 5 feet wide and 5 feet deep. His overseer, played by a pointy-sideburned Jon Voight, says that all this digging will "build character."

The other rule is that anything found during digging must be handed over to the Warden (Sigourney Weaver). Stanley figures she must be looking for buried treasure.

"Holes" is really two movies in one. It regularly jumps back 100 years to the tragic relationship between a black onion farmer, Sam (Dule Hill of "The West Wing"), and the white schoolteacher (Patricia Arquette) who eventually becomes Kissin' Kate Barlow, a legendary bandit. How this ties into the story you'll have to discover for yourself.

The movie's adult actors, including Tim Blake Nelson ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?") as the camp doctor, are so good that the kids pale in comparison. LaBeouf plays a decent Everykid, though almost to the point of monotony. If the other kids don't have a chance to develop beyond their types -- fat kid, klepto kid, kid who doesn't talk -- it's likely because Sachar didn't want to cut any of the book's cast of characters from the film.

Director Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive") creates a vivid sense of place without relying too much on special effects. Though produced by Disney, the movie has an independent feel and gives established actors like Voight and Weaver (who reportedly signed on because it was her daughter's favorite book) a chance to camp it up with characters straight out of Dickens.

"Holes" is a clever, ambitious movie with an impressive look. Think of it as a kids' "Cool Hand Luke," now recast as "Good-Hearted Stanley."