The Battle of Shaker Heights - C-
Now Playing: (2003, Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle) [seen in theatre]
Never having watched HBO's Project Greenlight, I mainly went to this because I enjoyed star Shia LaBoeuf in Holes. In that respect, I suppose I got my money's worth- on the basis of these two films, I can say he's an engaging and funny screen presence. Too bad the rest of the movie is such dreck. LaBoeuf plays a sort of B-level Max Fischer type, a nonconformist whose hobby is re-enacting battles from various wars, and who is a social outcast at school. When he becomes friends with a fellow re-enactor (Elden Henson) and develops a crush on Henson's sister (Amy Smart), all wackiness ensues, as the saying goes. Trouble is, it all feels so slight. In Rushmore at least Max is attracted to Miss Cross for reasons beyond her looks, and while this might be the point of Battle (that while he fronts as an eccentric he really just wants to sleep with hot girls) I think his character suffers as a result. Better to make her an interesting person, I think, instead of some fantasy figure (she's even named Tabby, one of those names which never sounds convincing in a movie). The war re-enactment stuff- no doubt a major selling-point for the Project Greenlight selection folks- is directed with no eye for action (not even comedic action) so it just sits there on the screen. And the more dramatic scenes with LaBoeuf's artist mother and recovering-junky dad feel phoned-in. Pretty much a waste of a movie aside from LaBoeuf, who I'm eager to see again, just not in another movie like this.