I was totally into PG2, so today I went over to the Archlight CineramaDome on Sunset Blvd., in Hollywood, CA to see the final result of 'The Battle of Shaker Heights'. The movie is about a 17 year old boy named Kelly (Shia LeBeouf) who re-enacts war battles in his spare time. He also works the night-shift at the local supermarket with his friend Sarah (Shiri Appleby) who seems to have a crush on him. The movie centers around the events that take place after Kelly meets a new friend, Bart (Eldon Henson) at one of his battles. He meets Bart's sister, Tabby (Amy Smart) and falls for her. Problem is she is 23 and engaged. The film tries to make what Kelly goes through, too melodramatic. Like everyone is getting all excited over nothing. The plot whizzes by pretty fast. You end up saying 'Well, why is Bart mad? Is that all? Seems like he's over-reacting). Alot of the movie is this, over-reacting. The script (written by Erica Beeny) could have been better served after a few more drafts. And a script doctor. The directors (Kyle Rankin & Efram Potelle) don't accomplish the task of making the movie funny. There are hardly any laughs. I remember only chuckling once, perhaps twice. But I didn't laugh. Neither did the audience I saw it with (which was pretty crowded for a 1:50pm show on a Wednesday afternoon. Don't people in Hollywood have jobs!?!) The show Project Greenlight, chronicled the making of the movie. And they rushed this movie into production (filming only took 3 weeks and editing 2 or 3) The movie defintely suffers because of it. If given more time to be developed, like other movies do, it would have been alot better. It had great potential. Not to say it was bad, it kept me entertained for an hour and a half. I was just disappointed though. It felt incomplete. But, the final shot of the movie made was worth the 11 bucks I shelled out for the ticket. When Kelly finally realizes he belongs with Sarah and walks off with her into the horizon, he jumps on her back and then she jumps on his. It was so sweet, and cute. A true portrait of young love. And the clencher was Peter Gabriel's song 'When You're Falling' playing in the background. It was a PERFECT moment, as the movie faded out. It's rather rare I love an ending so much. But anyway, Kyle & Efram are funny guys, and they should write their own stuff from now on. It's not great, its not bad. It's just OK.
RATING: ** out of ****
RATING: ** out of ****