Teenage Battle Fatigue
What must have read like a charming coming-of-age story set in the suburbs on the printed page has its moments, but The Battle of Shaker Heights feels mostly like the movie made by committee that it is. Still, the winner of Project Greenlight's second screenwriting contest could have been worse.
Erica Beeney's script was chosen by a group of Miramax executives, several producers, including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and a representative from sponsor Blockbuster, whose logo is advertised throughout the movie.
The directors, Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle, were selected separately and it shows—The Battle of Shaker Heights is more like a war between the subplots.
The life of intelligent and sarcastic high school student Kelly (Shia LaBeouf, Holes) seems like several ABC Afterschool Special characters rolled into one: his dad is a recovering drug addict, his mom is a flake, he's got a crush on his best friend's sister, and a bully routinely beats him up at school.
There's also Kelly's job at the local convenience store—where his co-worker Sarah (Shiri Appleby) has a crush on him—and his hobby of reenacting war history, an interesting hook that never fully lives up to its promise.
Carried by LaBeouf's performance, The Battle of Shaker Heights conveys adolescence with a tender, humorous touch, especially when Kelly chases the older sister of his war games pal Bart, diligently played by Elden Henson (The Mighty).
But young Kelly's flirtation with Tabby (Amy Smart) plays like the classic Summer of '42 without the poignancy, leaving one wondering why the lead female—an object of youthful lust—is named after a cat. Tabby's unfortunate name is an omen; all of the important scenes are too short, most of them are contrived and few of them ring true.
When Kelly gets drunk with Bart one night, he ventures over to big sister's studio and nearly knocks over a lamp. It's a funny scene, but only for a flash. Directors Rankin and Potelle, at the moment when Kelly might become vulnerable, restore Kelly to his caustic teen state as if he had been drinking Mountain Dew. Before long, he's firing off put-downs to Tabby's good-looking fiancé (Anson Mount).
Other basic problems include veteran actress Kathleen Quinlan's (Apollo 13) truly awful performance as Kelly's mother and a life-threatening illness that ranks among Hollywood's most remarkable recoveries.
And writer Beeney, whose sensitive, troubled teenager is at her story's center, apparently doesn't have much to say. Kelly's emotional resolutions—with his parents, with his best friend and with the bully—are delivered with pat made-for-television endings.
The final frames depict Kelly, paired in suburban romance, as he strolls into the sunset. Yet one leaves with the impression that bright, young Kelly has been more hardened than matured by this battle, which, for a kid fighting for his future, seems like a raw deal.
Erica Beeney's script was chosen by a group of Miramax executives, several producers, including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and a representative from sponsor Blockbuster, whose logo is advertised throughout the movie.
The directors, Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle, were selected separately and it shows—The Battle of Shaker Heights is more like a war between the subplots.
The life of intelligent and sarcastic high school student Kelly (Shia LaBeouf, Holes) seems like several ABC Afterschool Special characters rolled into one: his dad is a recovering drug addict, his mom is a flake, he's got a crush on his best friend's sister, and a bully routinely beats him up at school.
There's also Kelly's job at the local convenience store—where his co-worker Sarah (Shiri Appleby) has a crush on him—and his hobby of reenacting war history, an interesting hook that never fully lives up to its promise.
Carried by LaBeouf's performance, The Battle of Shaker Heights conveys adolescence with a tender, humorous touch, especially when Kelly chases the older sister of his war games pal Bart, diligently played by Elden Henson (The Mighty).
But young Kelly's flirtation with Tabby (Amy Smart) plays like the classic Summer of '42 without the poignancy, leaving one wondering why the lead female—an object of youthful lust—is named after a cat. Tabby's unfortunate name is an omen; all of the important scenes are too short, most of them are contrived and few of them ring true.
When Kelly gets drunk with Bart one night, he ventures over to big sister's studio and nearly knocks over a lamp. It's a funny scene, but only for a flash. Directors Rankin and Potelle, at the moment when Kelly might become vulnerable, restore Kelly to his caustic teen state as if he had been drinking Mountain Dew. Before long, he's firing off put-downs to Tabby's good-looking fiancé (Anson Mount).
Other basic problems include veteran actress Kathleen Quinlan's (Apollo 13) truly awful performance as Kelly's mother and a life-threatening illness that ranks among Hollywood's most remarkable recoveries.
And writer Beeney, whose sensitive, troubled teenager is at her story's center, apparently doesn't have much to say. Kelly's emotional resolutions—with his parents, with his best friend and with the bully—are delivered with pat made-for-television endings.
The final frames depict Kelly, paired in suburban romance, as he strolls into the sunset. Yet one leaves with the impression that bright, young Kelly has been more hardened than matured by this battle, which, for a kid fighting for his future, seems like a raw deal.
