Insomniac's blog

I have finished reading Holes by Louis Sachar and thought about how the book compares to the movie. I think the movie follows the book fairly closely. There were some liberties that the movie took, but for the most part the story was closely followed. For a review and information on the movie, follow this link.
Holes would be a great book to teach in a film as literature comparative course in either middle school or maybe 9th grade. This movie would be a great way to show the concept of flashback in literature as in appears several times in th book. Sometimes flashback is easier to understand when it is visual. For readers who have a hard time visualizing when reading, this movie would make a great tool in teaching the book.
I thought that the actors used in the movie "Holes" were well chosen. Sigourney Weaver played the warden and managed to pull off just the right combination of meanness and manipulation that the book character had. Jon Voight played the role of Mr. Sir, the main camp prison guard and Tim Blake Nelson played the part of Mr. Pendanski, otherwise known as Mom, the camp counselor. Whoever did the casting for these characters did a fantastic job. Both Voight and Nelson fit the roles perfectly. Of course though, I did watch the movie before I read the book. This may have clouded my own visualization of the characters.
As far as the camp prisoners go, I was a little disappointed with Shia LaBeouf as Stanley Yelnats. He just was not what I had pictured in my head. However, LaBeouf did do a great job of getting Stanley's awkwardness and shyness down.
One part in the movie that I did wish was in the book was when the Warden's grampa, Trout Walker, told the Warden to dig when she was a young girl. She complained about having to dig and his response was, "Well, that's just too damn bad!" It was by far one of the funniest moments in the movie. Too bad it did not appear in the book.
Overall though, I must say that I thought the movie was fantastic. It is a wonderful way to help pupils visualize and help them see what others' interpretation of the book is.