captainswife
I am a big fan of Shia Lebouf, mostly because we watch a lot of Disney channel at my house and enjoy his acting. I didn't see Project Greenlight for this movie, so there were absolutely no expectations.The themes of the movie were fairly simple and clear throughout the movie. The dialogue was great (witty and funny), and I think Shia Lebouf did an excellent job of portraying the struggles of a "normal" teen. We didn't get too emotionally caught up with the characters during the movie, but we did find ourselves empathizing with them. My husband thought the editing was a bit choppy, but I didn't really notice it myself.
caspian1978
This is an independent movie? No, it is what a studio gets when they force Hollywood ideology on an independent production. For starters, I am sick to think that this script was the best out of over 15,000 scripts that were submitted in the Project Greenlight competition. Second, the direction in the movie is far from anything gritty or original. A generic style of anything basic, Shaker Heights is more of a student film with Hollywood production value than anything gritty or truly independent. Third, the casting of this film was hit and miss. Half of the actors were excellent while the other half simply read their lines from the script and nothing else. A simple rule in movie making that this production failed to follow was the relationship of the leading role with the movie. Your leading man . woman must identify with some percentage of the audience. If nobody understand what the character is going through, they don't care. Not only does the leading character fail to progress or change as a person by the end of the movie, but the characters motivation is pointless and the audience loses interest with him before we reach the half way point. If this was a low budget and a true independent film, I could see not being so negative. But I can't. If you spend over 1 million dollars and you have professional cast and crew members working for you, it is your job to produce a good film. Shaker Heights is not a good film. My two cents.
Kerry
Shia LaBeouf delivers another wonderful performance in the movie. I give Hollywood another year and half to figure out how kick ass he is. This film would not have been nearly as moving and watchable as it is without him. Can't wait to see what he does next!
skipyhigh
Shia LaBeouf plays a teen obsessed with war, raised by hippie drug addict parents. His performance is flawless. Despite a lackluster attempt at acting by Amy Smart, Shia is able to carry this film. It is not a cliche coming-of-age story. There are so many levels to this film, it is definitely a movie that you should watch more than once. La Beouf has the innate ability to make you laugh and cry in the very same scene. For many teens today, this film is all too real. Everything from his need to rebel against his liberal parents, to his use of cliche phrases (like when he confronts Amy Smarts character, in a scene that could have been picked right out of a soap opera, with the exception that the feeling behind those words is quite different). This film is subtle, yet quite intelligent and funny. It is definitely worth a closer look.
AD
