THE SHIA LABEOUF REVIEW

By Nate Lee

BEST FILM: Holes The role that made him famous to fans older than teens. Through the twists and turns of its serendipitous plot, and through his spot-on performance, “Holes” most ably uses Shia’s innocent adaptability.

GREAT PERFORMANCES YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN:

The Battle of Shaker Heights

The Greatest Game Ever Played (golf prodigy)

Disturbia (the boy next door… to a killer)

Bobby (a waiter)

The Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

BLOCKBUSTERS:

Eagle Eye (opposite Michelle Monaghan)

Transformers

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Indy’s son)

Holes (Stanley Yelnats, a mistakenly imprisoned boy)

Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle

I, Robot

Constantine (Keanu Reeves’s chauffeur)

THE REAL LABEOUF:

The Battle of Shaker Heights

LaBeouf often gives the sense of having grown up too soon, the offspring of a heroin-addicted father and a mother who barely scraped by. This little-known role is close in a lot of ways.

ACTING STYLE:

So far, he’s the self-reliant kid, displaying orphan-like moxie in a world of unreliable adults – yet still, at the core, an innocent.

BITS AND QUIRKS:

Lets down that guard to remind us, with clumsiness or stuttering, that he’s still a kid. Open-mouthed surprise moving into outrage. Nerdy slouch. Quick spurts of dialogue, often displaying a quick temper.

GREAT SCENES:

HOLES -

Stealing the truck and driving it into a hole > In the hole with the poisonous lizards > Rescuing his friend Zero and carrying him up the mountain > The satchel at the end

BOBBY -

Tripping out on LSD > Playing tennis > The assassination scene

CONSTANTINE -

Copping an attitude with Reeves in the beginning and the guy dropping on his car

EAGLE EYE -

The poker game > The crane crashing into the FBI building > In the crate with Michelle Monaghan > The luggage machine at the airport

TRANSFORMERS -

The robots visiting his house > Meeting the “autobots” > The car lot, finding the yellow Camaro