Battle Of Shaker Heights

Year: 2003

Grade: B-

Country: USA

Director: Potelle/Rankin

Review

i don’t know that most people over age 20 would give this a second look, but the film actually has some good bones. shia lebouf is good and the script has some meat that the conventional teen flick doesn’t. i hope i don’t ever become one of those old guys who doesn’t remember what it was like to be a teenager. sure, now i realize that the guys think with their dicks too much and the girls don’t think at all, but being a teen is rough in a lot of ways and this film captures some of those rough patches. it’s about a teenager dealing with a first love of sorts, a hippie artist mom, and an ex-junkie dad. labeouf is about as good as any other young actor at delivering snappy dialogue. his more serious moments could use some work, but that’ll come along with time, and hopefully some good role selections.

it’s the result of the project greenlight thing that affleck and damon put together. the film is most notable for me, though, because it’s one of many that was filmed at my old high school.

incidentally, it’s one of my general guidelines that a film not end with a crane shot, it’s just so damn cliché.