Holes
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: April 18, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesDana Stevens
One of the few recent movies I have seen that plunged me into that rare, giddy state of pleasurable confusion, of not knowing what would happen next, which I associate with the reading and moviegoing experiences of my own childhood. But there is no reason that children should have a monopoly on this primal, wonderful experience. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
It's great to see an action-adventure family film with heart as well as humor, whimsy alongside wisdom, and a compelling narrative. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A movie so strange that it escapes entirely from the family genre and moves into fantasy. Like "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," it has fearsome depths and secrets. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldChristine Dolen
Great, multilayered family film. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A richly satisfying adaptation of Louis Sachar's novel. Read full review
83
ColliderMarco Vito Oddo
Every scene of Holes is risky since it avoids easy answers and exposes some uncomfortable truths about the justice system. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Honoring the literary ground beneath it, spotted yellow lizards and all, the movie Holes is easy to dig. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
It's got an involving, adventurous story to tell and the wherewithal to tell it correctly. And while young adults may think this is intended only for them, in truth it's their elders who are especially starved for this kind of entertainment. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Although parents of small children are advised to give the film an advance look, Holes may nudge older kids toward that most ancient of after-school distractions: reading. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
Holes is a nicely made movie for kids, as entertaining as it is thought-provoking and--thanks to director Davis--a bit harder-edged than the usual Disney fare. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
For a Disney movie, Holes is mercifully low in saccharine. Read full review
80
Village VoiceEd Park
Brims with storytelling flourishes and gently deployed life lessons that even accompanying adults may dig Read full review
80
SalonLaura Miller
The movie is a similarly ingenious clockwork contraption that interlocks the most unlikely combination of stories without ever jamming its gears. Read full review
80
EmpireEmma Cochrane
Louis Sachar's compelling children's classic is about as Disney as Freddy Krueger. It's got murder, racism, facial disfigurement and killer lizards. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Frankly, I'm shocked that Disney, frequent purveyor of sleeping beauties and singing animated animals, is the studio behind this wonderfully black comedy/morality tale for children, but maybe Disney, too, saw past the material's deliciously macabre bent to find also a thrilling little essay on friendship, fate, and the restorative powers of onions. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It eschews obvious effects, but even more impressively, it tells a story without an obvious moral. It assumes that kids can wrestle with a fairly complicated narrative and draw their own conclusions. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
A great family movie, with a terrifically empathetic young hero, strong messages about the powers of familial love and friendship, buried treasure and enough action to keep the little ones from getting bored. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It's smart, strange, unpredictable, and defies the formulas that typically define this sort of motion picture. Read full review
70
Film ThreatKevin Carr
Overall, there is a lot of flip-flopping between stories, sometimes jumping back and forth more frantically than an episode of "Seinfeld." Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
One would have to be totally tone-deaf not to notice that the director, Andrew Davis, has inflicted a broad cartoon style on adult performers who are distinctly uncomfortable with it.
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Holes functions as a film, but just barely: Readers familiar with the book may negotiate the film's antic crosscutting, but newbies will need to pop a Dramamine before the lights dim. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
A movie that feels a bit like digging a hole in the ground -- an exercise that may build character but doesn't seem to accomplish much else. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Holes will no doubt speak clearly and appealingly to its intended early teen audience. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Fails to be anything special. It makes passable preteen entertainment but comes off as clunky and heavy-handed in most of the places it should be graceful and enchanting. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
An ambitious undertaking, but not a successful one: It unfolds with the studied determination of a grade-school book report. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Those who come to the movie cold will find it an exasperating assembly of brutal pedantry and whimsies, boasting far less charm or grace than even the first Harry Potter picture. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
With the movie's attentions spread so thin, almost everything begins to seem peripheral - even if almost every loose end is tied together, no matter how unlikely the connection. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
Its real liability is on the special effects front: The sub-par digital effects — particularly in the scenes featuring poisonous lizards — detract noticeably from the overall atmosphere. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Suffers even more than the Harry Potter films from a compulsion to be faithful to the source material, including cramming in a head-spinning assortment of characters and subplots. Read full review
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