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The Battle of Shaker Heights
PG-13
Starting tomorrow at Ritz theaters
Three reels out of four
The Battle of Shaker Heights is the second movie to have come out of the "Project Greenlight" series on HBO. For those of you without cable, the show gives aspiring filmmakers a chance to live their Hollywood dreams. Based on what I’ve seen, the show is as much about the process of moviemaking as it is about the individuals involved.
The first film, last year’s Stolen Summer, was a well-intentioned but overly sentimental affair that received lukewarm critical response and was DOA at the box office. And while it’s no classic, The Battle of Shaker Heights is infinitely better. This quirky, charming little coming-of-age tale might surprise you if you let it.
Kelly Ernswiler (Shia LaBeouf) is a Cleveland high-school kid who doesn’t quite fit in — nor does he want to. When Kelly isn’t stocking shelves for a local grocery store, he reenacts famous battles from history with fellow war enthusiasts.
At one of these skirmishes, he meets Bart Bowland (Elden Henson), a preppie whose father collects old war memorabilia. When Kelly incurs the wrath of a bully at school, Bart helps him inflict terror by using methods taken from classic battles. During these visits, Kelly also manages to fall in love with Bart’s older sister, Tabby (Amy Smart). After several misadventures, Kelly realizes there’s more to life than war.
I fear this film, like its predecessor, will have a hard time finding its audience. It’s too quirky to be commercial, yet not sophisticated enough for the artsy-fartsies.
Which is a shame, because I do like it. The story jumps all over the place, yet the big picture is consistent in tone and feel. It reminded me of an after-school special, in all the good ways. As Kelly bounces from situation to situation, we slowly get a picture of a kid who’s a little confused but far more centered than most his age. The character interactions are realistic, but the movie never gets sentimental.
LaBeouf, the star of this flick, also starred in Holes and had a small part in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. It’s pretty hard to predict these things, but if his talent and screen presence are any indication, he will be a big star as he gets older. LaBeouf has the manic energy and innate intelligence of a young Dustin Hoffman. You read it here first.
An excellent ensemble cast joins LaBeouf, including Kathleen Quinlan and William Sadler as his parents.
The Battle of Shaker Heights works better in moments than it does as a whole. Luckily, those moments are frequent enough to make the movie worth seeing.
Rental review
Identity
R
Available Tuesday
Imagine if Agatha Christie had written for The Twilight Zone and you have some idea what Identity is like. On a dark and stormy night, a group of strangers ends up at the same motel. And, one by one, each meets a gruesome end. As the night progresses — or, more appropriately, digresses — it becomes clearer that the deaths have an eerie connection. Trust me, no matter how good you are at figuring out movie endings, you won’t see this one coming. Excellent ensemble cast, including John Cusack, Amanda Peet and Ray Liotta.
