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Such a frustrating disappointment

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

"The Battle of Shaker Heights" focuses on a pedantic high school dweeb (LaBeouf) and his involvements with WWII reenactments, a payback prank on a bully, and, most of all, his affections for two girls. An unfortunate little coming-of-ageish flick, "Battle" is lacking in depth, homogeneity, continuity, and the breadth of things we like to see in stories, characters, and screenplays. Unoriginal, unimaginative, off target, and with too much invested in a rather annoying central character, "Battle" isn't all bad and does manage some warmth, personality, and charm though it's largely overshadowed by its many deficits. Passable stuff which will likely play best with teens. (C)

I've never seen Project Greenlight but I do know about screenwriting so I can only assume that the script that won the contest was a hugely different affair to the one that made it to the screen. Either that or the other 9000-plus entries were real turkeys! The story is totally unfocussed, switching between stories of high-school rivalries, domestic discord, and unrequited love with little or nothing to connect them. I read that Shia LaBeouf is considered to be a future star and he gets the lion's share of screen time as the lead character, Kelly. Unfortunately Kelly is a self-centered and boorish young man who disses his parents, his teachers and his adoring female friend with no regard for their feelings. We are supposed to like him though because he is the victim of a school bully. Getting our sympathy for such a character was always going to be hard and LaBeouf fails to pull this off. Considering the quality of the supporting cast,and the involvement of Affleck and Damon, I was expecting a much better movie than this. The film is not actually bad and there are some good performances, but the whole thing just doesn't hang together. The final twist that reveals why Kelly has resisted the romantic advances of Sarah (Shiri Appleby) comes completely out of the blue - a cardinal sin in all the writing classes I've attended. It sounds like a hastily thought-up excuse for a happy ending. Ironically, the final scene it sets up is actually the best part of the film with LaBeouf and Appleby clowning around sweetly like real young lovers. This review is based on the Region one DVD release. As the film runs for a bare 79 minutes I was expecting some interesting extras on the DVD but there are none (apart from some previews). Poor show Miramax!

Considering the small amount of time for filming, the lack of money ( one million dollar's movie) almost no publicity, and the unfair reviews of some critics, I was really surprise of how well the movie played. I think it had a lot to do with how perfect Shia Labeouf was for the part, he was just so good. If you give it a chance in a Sunday afternoon you will not be displeased.

I don't know who is giving this movie all those 10's. It cannot seriously be based on the quality of the movie. The directors are more talented than they got credit for in the series, but the movie is completely predictable and full of sorry cliches. Shia Lebeouf is a decent actor but, personally, possibly the most annoying person I've ever seen.