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Book vs. Movie: Holes by Louis Sachar

2/26/2012

46 Comments

 
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I turned this movie on last night, feeling like an intrepid reporter.  I had come prepared: my dog-eared copy of Holes, a thick pad of paper, and a pen.  I planned to take extensive notes.  I had the remote poised and ready to pause this thing at the exact moment of any potential inconsistency, so I could immediately look it up in the text.

The film opened and I chuckled smugly as the boys came into view, digging holes while wearing hats with flaps to protect their necks. 
Protective hats? Pah! I know for sure that wasn’t in the book. I smell a Disney-fication! I was going to bust this thing wide open.  I paused it, flipping quickly through the text, and then found this:

“He was also given white sneakers, an orange cap, and a canteen made of heavy plastic, which unfortunately was empty.  The cap had a piece of cloth sewn on the back of it, for neck protection.”

Okay…guess I’m wrong about that one.  Moving on…

As this movie went from scene to scene…following the book almost to the word on some pages…maintaining almost everything…even the tricky flashbacks which I was 100% sure that they’d never be able to duplicate in film…even the food served in the cafeteria…I realized that this was actually the most faithful film adaptation of any book I’d ever seen.  EVER.  

My notes are one half-filled page and are comprised of things like, “Kate Barlowe = HELL YES” and “Wasn’t the nail polish red in the book, not pink?”  (I was really grasping at straws on that one.)

What are the chances? My first Book vs. Movie post and I have almost no differences to speak of!  But, I will soldier on!  I’m not a fancy blogger with three posts under her belt for nothing (that’s right, I said three).  So basically what I'm saying is that I'm here today to eat crow and tell you all how awesome this movie is.

There are a few other minor differences, but they're so minor that it  feels sort of petty to bring them up.  For example, Stanley’s Dad is developing a way to recycle sneakers in the book, and accidentally comes across a treatment for foot odor.  In the movie, he’s trying to cure foot odor all along.  Some of the scenes are switched around (although nothing major).  There’s an added scene about the yellow spotted lizards, and everything about Stanley’s day in school (prior to his arrest) is cut out (which I think was about 1-3 pages total in the book).  See? It’s barely worth mentioning.
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Design by Jan McCauley: A much more authentic looking Stanley Yelnats
Okay, so I actually do have ONE complaint: the casting of Stanley.  In the book, he is a tall, heavy boy who’s often confused for a bully even though he’s quite meek on the inside.  He’s also teased at school about his weight.  I loved that Stanley’s outside would become a label. In the movie he’s played by a young Shia Labeouf, and while I liked his performance well enough, he definitely doesn’t look anything like the Stanley Yelnats that I know.  He looks like a skinny, non-threatening nerd.
Other than that, I think the casting is just about perfect.  They’re all just how I imagined them.  There’s X-Ray, the leader, with glasses that are “so dirty that Stanley wondered how he could see out of them.”  There’s Zero, the smallest in the group, who’s so much smarter than everyone assumes.  There’s Magnet the thief and Armpit the mentor and Zig-Zag, who’s described as having “a big round head with wild frizzy blond hair that stuck out in all directions.”  They definitely captured that!
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X-Ray
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Armpit
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Zig-Zag
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Magnet
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Zero
The adult parts are also wonderfully cast, with the exception of John Voight, who gives such a crazy performance as Mr. Sir.  The only word for it really is cartoonish. He creeps around exaggeratedly, squinting his eyes and making wild gestures.  It’s just odd!  There’s a bit of a change there as well: cartoonish Mr. Sir gets a very cartoon-like comeuppance in the movie that’s not in the book.

The other performances are all wonderful.  Sigourney Weaver as the warden is quietly frightening and obsessive. Tim Blake Nelson is a smiley but cruel “nice guy” with a beard and a perpetually sunburned nose as Mr. Pendansky. And Patricia Arquette and Dulé Hill even made me a bit teary with the Kate Barlow/Sam flashbacks.
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The Warden
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Mr. Sir
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Mr. Pendansky
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Kate Barlow
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Sam
Overall, this is a wonderful adaptation of one of my favorite children’s books.  (My review of the book can be found here.)  I highly doubt that other fans of the book will be disappointed.  They really nailed it!
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46 Comments
Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
2/26/2012 05:27:58 am

Catie, did your daughters enjoy the movie?

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Catie (The Readventurer) link
2/26/2012 06:52:54 am

They didn't watch it actually! I think it's a little old for them (although my six year old probably would have been fine).

I got it from netflix...for me. :)

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T Wood
11/10/2012 12:12:13 am

In the film, they can't make stanley loose wieght like he does in the book!!! :-P

VeganYANerds link
2/26/2012 05:57:40 am

Great comparison, I didn't even know there was a movie and I only read Holes late last year, I'll try and find a copy here.

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Catie (The Readventurer) link
2/27/2012 06:17:48 am

Thanks! I hope you find it because it's a very worthy adaptation.

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Cassi Haggard link
2/26/2012 12:21:19 pm

Ever since Even Stevens I've had a soft spot for Shia Laboeuf. So I could easily forgive the appearance difference because it was Shia after all...

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Regina link
2/26/2012 08:36:03 pm

Great comparison. We will be approaching this the other way as we have already seen it and it is one of my favorite movies. I have been trying to convince my 12 year old to read it and she is pushing back. I even sent a copy to her while she was at camp. :)

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Catie (The Readventurer) link
2/27/2012 06:20:43 am

Have you read it Regina? It's a great book! Even for adults :) I hope your daughter gives it a chance sometime. You should tell her that it's a FORBIDDEN book and then just leave it out somewhere... :)

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Rita J Webb link
2/26/2012 11:15:05 pm

This book & movie sounds wonderful. I bet my kids would love reading this. I will be reading "The Candy Shop War" by Brandon Mull with my oldest daughter, and then I'll get this one to read with her.

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Lisa O. @ <a href="http://thenocturnallibrary.blogspot.com">The Nocturnal Library</a> link
2/27/2012 12:39:11 am

I've been wanting to read this book forever Catie and after your review my interest only increased.
thanks
Lisa O. @ <a href="http://thenocturnallibrary.blogspot.com">The Nocturnal Library</a>

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1
1/2/2013 07:45:35 pm

in the book sam is on the shore when all hell breaks loose, but in the film he's out on the lake

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suba drewba
1/10/2013 02:54:59 am

you forgot Squid in the pictures of the actors

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davo
1/20/2013 05:23:47 am

thanks for the differences, I needed some for homework :)

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jer
2/6/2013 11:47:05 pm

gret work thanks for doing that. keep up the good work

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The Abster
2/12/2013 09:06:51 am

This was a confusing contrast, huh? I am currently working on this assignment in reading and it is hard. >:-(

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Blake
11/8/2014 05:14:20 pm

I Know How You Feel

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STANLEY YELNATS
5/18/2016 10:01:58 am

Omg ikr?!? Idk what to write on mine assignment... -.-

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why do you want to know my name
2/25/2013 02:36:04 pm

thank you helped me for my homework i have to do an essay but i like the book better

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you dont need to know my name..
5/23/2013 04:38:31 am

hey! Thank you for helping me with my homework!(:I had to write a compare and contrast essay and this is like half of it!! Your an awesome person! Thanks again

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Cleo
9/17/2013 05:44:16 pm

This is such a wonderful movie and book, but as always, I prefer the books more than the movie. I am going to the DVD store to rent it RIGHT NOW! :)

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Lucy
11/10/2013 11:26:13 pm

nice book

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Caroline
11/10/2013 11:27:59 pm

this was an amazing book with many twists and turns i liked the book better than the movie to be honest

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jemima
4/1/2014 11:53:26 pm

the book was great but the movie was a bit of a bore and it lost my attention in the middle of the movie

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coolicecream link
4/1/2014 11:57:06 pm

i love it

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bill
4/1/2014 11:57:22 pm

hi my name is bill and i would like to say that i like the book much better than the movie it was a bore and this discription is good

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jimmybob
4/1/2014 11:58:11 pm

it was very intrestin but funny there were better discruption on the book than film the actor's where great for bein young people Mr sir was realy funny and zero was positive:)

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ross and ewan
4/1/2014 11:59:48 pm

this was a great book to read but the movie is a bit differant to the book from ewan :) ross- i really enjoyed the book but the movie was okay it is a bit boring and dosnt have a good quality

thanks :)

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Ser link
5/21/2014 12:17:14 am

I need to make an essay and this really helped me!

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jeff
4/30/2015 08:29:53 pm

it was great

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h link
11/30/2015 02:09:03 pm

love you

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OwnerHerobrine (minecraft username XD)
1/5/2016 04:05:34 pm

This might help,I know it is late but... if you have anything to do
about differences, here is one: Not every one thinks that Zero/Hector Zeroni is that smart in the camp. Your welcome if you needed help with anything :D. By the way, sorry if someone already posted this as a difference... :/.

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No shia
5/9/2016 01:34:47 pm

We can't have Shia labeouf

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duckboi
3/26/2017 07:24:01 pm

true af

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Leo
5/14/2016 04:35:44 am

I think one of the major differences from the book and the movie was the way it was structured. The book was set out in a way with a lot of plot twists e.g. You found out that onions repelled the lizards AFTER they were in the hole with the lizards (and you suddenly go Ahhh they ate onions earlier)

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Zero
1/27/2017 08:21:01 pm

The movie is not the best compared to the book

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Calyx
3/16/2017 12:01:02 am

I can actually explain the reasoning for Stanley; Stanley was described as thinning out. Loosing all that extra padding the more time went on. The problem was, no director could actually make an actor go from the original weight to what Stanley managed to attain. Not without it being incredibly unhealthy and potentially life threatening in the long run.

The director of the film thought it was better just to cast someone who pretty much had the character down pat and who had the end results. A better alternative.

The fact that they actually cared enough about their actors well being to not force them into the sudden and unhealthy weight loss is pretty much an A+ in my books. It's hard to find a movie where the actors are given a shit about, AND where they're more or less loyal to the books.

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duckboi
3/26/2017 07:22:48 pm

scree

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Jack Flack
4/5/2017 07:28:55 pm

I'm a queef from campbell HS come on M8

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fatboi911
4/5/2017 07:29:51 pm

come at me m8 (lick lick) ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm baby

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choo choo
4/5/2017 07:29:45 pm

choo choo

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NootNoot
4/5/2017 07:30:47 pm

Noot Noot

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NootNoot
4/5/2017 07:35:20 pm

Fight me m8

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bailley holdsworth
8/28/2017 06:51:00 pm

hello\

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lewis.c
11/5/2018 02:40:34 pm

i have read the book and watched the movie many times butit gets better every time

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James
4/19/2020 06:21:23 pm

In the movie, Mr. Sir turns out to be transgender, but in the book there's no mention of this. Probably added for comedic relief, since he acted so tough throughout the movie and how embarassing it was for him to be revealed as previously been a woman named Mary.

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heeeeeeee
5/18/2022 11:49:26 am

hereeee

Reply



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