The Battle of Shaker Heights

views updated

The Battle of Shaker Heights ★½ Project Greenlight's The Battle of Shaker Heights 2003 (PG-13)

Disappointing sophomore effort from the HBO series Project Greenlight, backed once again by producers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Kelly Ernswiler (LaBeouf) is bright, middleclass Midwestern teen whose hobby is military reenactment. He becomes best friends with Bart (Henson) after “saving his life” in a mock battle. He soon develops a crush on Bart's older sister Tabby, an engaged Yale grad student, much to the dismay of his supermarket coworker Sarah (Appleby). This only adds to Kelly's mounting problems, which include myriad family problems with exaddict dad (Sadler) and “art” entrepreneur mom (Quinlan). LaBeouf is appealing, rising above the disjointed, uninspired mess. If there is another “Project,” they should look for a director who will provide satisfying drama on the big screen as well as on the show. 85m/C VHS, DVD . US Shia LaBeouf, Elden (Ratliff) Henson, Amy Smart, Billy Kay, Shiri Appleby, Kathleen Quinlan, William Sadler, Ray Wise, Anson Mount, Philipp Karner; D: Kyle Rankin, Efram Potelle; W: Erica Beeney; C: Thomas Ackerman; M: Richard (Rick) Marvin.

More From encyclopedia.com