The Battle of Shaker Heights

The Battle of Shaker Heights - For Lovers of Independent Film Making and Acting
The Battle of Shaker Heights

I have never watched Project Greenlight. There I said it. I happened upon this movie and I'm glad I did. To me it's only of minor importance how this movie was funded and made, because the end product matters most. And the end product is much better than many would lead you to believe. You just have to know what kind of movie watcher you are. If you love independent films and don't mind slow and nuanced acting and a story with no cheap thrills, you can enjoy this. If you like more traditional movie experiences, you might find this treatment a bit slow.

Shia LaBoeuf shows why he is the "next big thing" of his generation in a very subtle and impressive portrayal of the main character. As Kelly he's an extremely over-intelligent high school kid who channels his brain power into nerdy pursuits like World War II history and military memorablia. Elden Henson is...

If you watched Project Greenlight, this is great
Under normal circumstances, one would not think much of this movie. It's a nice coming-of-age story about a 17-year-old boy (wonderfully played by Shia LaBeouf), but there's nothing spectacular about it. His relationships with his parents and his potential love interests are not fully developed, and the viewer doesn't necessarily buy into what they try to tell us. It's been done before, and it's been done better.

But, if you watched the Project Greenlight series on HBO, it's a must-see. It's fun to see how all the scenes turned out. The much-debated group hug no longer exists--if it did, you'd walk out of the theater or turn of the TV. A big thank you to producer Chris Moore for getting rid of that.

All in all, it's a "Sunday Afternoon Movie". It's the kind of movie you watch on a Sunday afternoon when it's raining outside and all you want to do is sit on the recliner and eat popcorn while someone tells you a story for an hour or so.

A very well-done coming of age flick
Shia Lebeouf plays Kelly Ernswiler, a high school senior trying to just survive life in this comedy-drama by directors Efram Potelle and Kyle Rankin in what is arguably there biggest job yet.

Kelly is a young man who enjoys reinacting famous battles from past wars. This is partly a way of reliving history, and a partly a way of escaping life with his recovering drug addict father, played by William Sadler of The Green Mile, and his mother, played by Kathleen Quinlen from Apollo 13. Kelly still hasn't found a way to forgive his father for his past abuses, so he prefers to spend the day with his new friend Bart Rowland and his wealthy family. Bart and Kelly strike up a friendship over their shared love of history and Kelly's desire to strike back at a school bully. Along the way, Kelly finds himself attracted to Bart's older sister, Tabby, a girl engaged to another man, which threatens to destroy their friendship.

This is a very rich coming-of-age story with characters you...

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