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Holes | 2003 | PG | - 3.4.3

A young boy (Shia LaBeouf) who's been wrongly accused of stealing a pair of cleats belonging to a baseball super star is sent to a Texas reform camp run by a warden (Sigourney Weaver) who believes that boys will build character by digging five-feet deep holes in the desert. But the desert holds many secrets, including a mystery involving lost love and treasure. Based on the popular novel. Also with Patricia Arquette, Rick Fox and Khleo Thomas. Directed by Andrew Davis. [1:51]

SEX/NUDITY 3 - A man and a woman kiss and hug romantically. A young man admires a young woman a few times. A female bandit kisses the people she kills (we see lipstick marks on their cheeks). A man tries to force a woman to kiss him, she pushes him away and runs. A boy says he thinks about how a girl looks in a bikini. A young woman wears tight-fitting, gauzy tops that reveal the outline of her breasts. A woman wears tight-fitting jeans and blouses that reveal cleavage throughout the movie. A woman's top falls partly open and her cleavage is exposed. A woman wears a short top that exposes her bare midriff. A man has a towel wrapped around his waist (we see his bare chest). We see boys in their underwear a few times and bare-chested in several scenes.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A man is shot and killed; we see him slump down into his boat from a distance. A woman shoots a man (we see him with his head tipped backward). A woman grabs a lizard that bites her on the arm and we watch her die. A man talks about hanging an African-American man for kissing a white woman. A woman paints her nails with rattlesnake venom and scratches a man on the cheek; he falls on the floor quaking and moaning (we see him later with a very swollen and bruised face and two bloody cuts). A man and a woman hold guns on another woman. Men throw flaming torches into a schoolhouse and it burns. A man shoots past a boy at a lizard, he misses, the lizard charges toward the boy with fangs bared, jumps up, the man shoots again and the lizard is hit (we hear a "squish" and see a spurt of red). A boy hits a man in the face with a shovel (we see the man lying unconscious on the ground with bloody gashes across his cheek and nose). A man tries to force a woman to kiss him, she pushes him away and runs. A boy holds another boy in a headlock and then throws him to the ground. A boy is shoved and falls onto another boy who shoves him again and he falls on the floor, they scuffle briefly and other boys gather around to break it up. Two boys taunt, shove and punch each other and another boy jumps on the back of one, holding him around the neck until he is gasping for air. A boy steals a truck, drives away, a man grabs onto the window and is dragged, he falls off and the truck and crashes into a hole. A boy is shoved back onto a bench press bench and a weight is placed on his chest. A boy entices a rattlesnake to bite him; we see the snake lunge, hear the boy scream and hear that "he'll not be returning." We see two dead bodies lying near an overturned stagecoach in the desert. We see a donkey lying on the ground after a group of men have killed her (there are a couple of glistening patches that could be blood). We see a few photos of dead men in coffins. We see what we are told is a dead body covered by a blanket on the back of a cart. A boy loses his grip while climbing a mountain, he grabs onto a shovel handle held by another boy who holds the blade, and ends up with very bloody gashes on his hands. A large number of deadly lizards crawl onto two boys and they are very frightened. Two boys run into the desert (independently) and other people ruminate on their chances of survival. A man fires a gun into the air to get the attention of a group of boys. A boy talks about his mother disappearing. A police car chases a boy. A man falls into a hole, and a man is shoved against a wall. A pair of sneakers fall from a bridge and hit a boy walking below on the head. A man with a gun patrols a desert where boys are busily digging holes, and another man is wearing a gun on his belt. A man says to boys, "you'll die a slow and painful death." We hear several references and descriptions of buzzards eating people. People are verbally abusive and insulting to one boy throughout the movie. A fortuneteller threatens a young man with a curse on his family. Boys have bloody and blistered hands in a couple of scenes. We see a stagecoach tip over as it drives out of control. A scorpion crawls across a boy's pillow. The boys are served mushy, slimy slop in a few scenes. Two boys eat very old and discolored preserved peaches. A boy sees a man with a donkey and cart walking in the desert and they disappear as he passes by. A man experiments in his house trying to create a deodorizer for sneakers (people react to the smell in several scenes). We see a stained mattress. A boy vomits, rolls down an incline and appears ill. A boy flatulates, boys run away gasping when another boy raises his arms (he's apparently smelly), a man snorts and spits. Boys have descriptive nicknames like Barf Bag and Arm Pit.

LANGUAGE 3 - 5 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 6 mild obscenities, 7 religious exclamations and some abusive name calling.

SUBSTANCE USE - A man smokes.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Punishment, innocence, family, greed, lying, curses, racism, destiny, interracial relationships, character, obsessions, fossils, snake oil remedies, illiteracy, homelessness, eviction, paranoia, paying dues.

MESSAGE - Often adventure and growth are found under unlikely and ostensibly dispiriting circumstances.

(Note: A man sells his daughter to a man for a pig.)

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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