The Battle of Shaker Heights (2003)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Directors:

Efram Potelle
Kyle Rankin

Writer:

Erica Beeney (written by)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Comedy

Tagline:

When you're 17, every day is war

Plot:

A young war reenactor makes a friend on the battlefield who helps him use strategy to take on his high school enemy...

Plot Keywords:

High School | Father Son Relationship | War Reenactment | Father Son Conflict | Bully Comeuppance

Cast

Shia LaBeouf	...	Kelly Ernswiler (as Shia La Beouf)
Elden Henson	...	Bart Bowland
Amy Smart	...	Tabby
Billy Kay	...	Lance
Kathleen Quinlan	...	Eve
Shiri Appleby	...	Sarah
William Sadler	...	Abe
Ray Wise	...	Harrison
Philipp Karner	...	Maurice / German Soldier
Anson Mount	...	Miner Weber
Dale R. Simonton	...	Todd / German Soldier (as Dale Simonton)
Michael McShane	...	Mr. Norway
Hattie Winston	...	Principal Holmstead
Rick Cramer	...	German Officer / Mr. Thomas
France Nuyen	...	Xiou-Xiou Ling

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and some drug references.

Runtime:

USA:79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-11 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Iceland:LH

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

LivePlanet

Trivia:

This film was the result of the winning entries for "Project Greenlight 2" (2003).

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of the lawnmower on the lawn in subsequent shots at the end of the movie.

Quotes:

Kelly: [about his father] He's a VH1 documentary without the music.

Movie Connections:

Spin off from "Project Greenlight 2" (2003)

Soundtrack:

No More

Great little film.

This is a great little film, about 1000 times better than anyone could have

expected, given the tumultuous "Project Greenlight" backstory and the fact that it was written and directed by novices. The concerns of being too melodramatic

were obviously addressed and taken seriously, given the fact that many scenes -- including the brick wall scene with the father, the group hug and Shia's crying in the hospital -- were all mercifully absent from the version I saw last night at the Arclight, where the filmmakers were in attendance to answer questions.

Also contributing to the film's success were good camerawork, excellent editing, a brisk pace, and a score that, while instrumentally reminiscent of "American Beauty" (in both its use of tablas and quiet piano notes during the romantic

scenes) helped tremendously in conveying teenage angst and confusion.

"Project Greenlight" may seem a rare and wonderful treat for struggling

filmmakers, but it also must be an ungodly ordeal, given not only the media

attention, but the difficulty of the assignment itself (Pete Jones managed, also remarkably, to come through relatively unscathed last year, though his film was not as good as this one).

So whatever you want to say about these guys (and there seems to be quite a

bit of animosity and, understandably, jealousy), the bottom line is they survived making a first feature without going insane, and did it while a documentary crew followed their every move, publicly recording their best and worst moments. To me, that alone is a remarkable achievement, and as a filmmaker myself, I can

guarantee that most moments on a low budget first feature are far less than

great.

As I told them last night before the Q and A, they should be extremely proud of what they accomplished, no matter how the film came out. The fact that it's a funny, entertaining and -- in my view, well-directed -- entry into the coming-of- age genre is merely icing on the cake, and LA and New York Times critics can

be damned -- because they've never made a film, and never will.

Kyle, Efram and Erica, I congratulate you, and wish you the best of luck.