XoWizIama Excellent adaptation.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

oshram-3 I'm wary of indie cinema in general and anything set in Cleveland in particular (A Christmas Story a noteworthy exception), but I had heard good things about this film and decided to give it a try.Battle follows the story of one Kelly Ernsweiler (Shia LaBeouf), a smart-aleck from just over the border from Shaker Heights, one of the wealthier communities in the Cleveland area. Kelly takes part in WWII re-enactment battles, but has trouble following the scripts; he steals German uniforms and changes the outcome of the skirmish. In school, he lips off to his history teacher about his glib coverage of the Civil War; and even to his parents, he's kind of sharp and short. Kelly is a young man making his own mess with his quick brain and quicker mouth, but at one battle he meets what might be a kindred spirit, wealthy Bart Bowland (Elden Henson), who shares most of the same interests, he just happens to live in a mansion in Shaker Heights. The two boys get along well, Bart trying to sand down some of Kelly's rougher edges, when trouble between then starts to crop up in the form of Bart's older sister, Tabby (Amy Smart). Kelly falls for the pretty, older woman, and Bart starts to sour on him.LaBeouf is highly engaging as the wise-ass Kelly. It's impossible (well, it's impossible for me) not to like him, because while he is mouthy, he's also usually right. Kelly knows he's meant for something more, and LaBeouf portrays very sharply his edgy energy in trying to figure out exactly what that is. For a while he's convinced it's Tabby, unlikely though that may be.The problem with the film, as engrossing as the first two-thirds are, is that it doubles back on itself. Suddenly Kelly's wit is a liability, not an asset; his rejection of authority morphs into a rejection of reality, and all of his character flaws that make him so interesting are now suddenly regarded as mere selfishness. Kelly himself never changes, it's just that how we are meant to look at him does; and in the end he achieves 'redemption' by dulling his acerbic wit and acting more normal (though he's given a consolation prize in Shiri Appleby, so it's not all bad).I'm a little surprised this film was the winner of the Affleck/Damon driven Project Greenlight project; while it displays some sharp humor and strong acting (and a nice supporting cast including one of my favorites, William Sadler), ultimately the movie betrays not only its own roots but the unspoken indie creed of be yourself and you will find happiness. Indeed, the message of Battle is subvert your intelligence and be part of the crowd and you'll be okay. Which, okay, is probably more honest than the first one, but it's a hell of a lot less satisfying to watch.

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.

sacrisrod 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.

javamikey Like many folks who watched Project Greenlight, I was hoping that the HBO show was just being dramatic and playful about the filmmaking events... but at the end of the day, everything would be okay.Unfortunately for the BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS, everything is not okay.With a million budget, this team had the tools to make a decent movie. All one has to do is look at CLERKS, CHASING AMY, the original HALLOWEEN, and BETTER LUCK TOMORROW to see what can be done for a few hundred grand or less. Instead, SHAKER HEIGHTS looks like it was made by a group that concluded a million dollars was no money and they'd put on a good show (more for the HBO audience than the theatre audience, apparently).Once the project was picked, this group had the luxury of making a feature film without using their own money, going in debt to finish it up, feverishly look for investors, or the chore of finding a distributor (that may explain the mediocre result). This movie had NINE PRODUCERS, TWO DIRECTORS, and THE WRITER ON SET to answer questions. Sadly, it looks like little got done.The directors adding a custom "Hot Lips" license plate to the army Jeep served no grand purpose. That use of thought and power could have been better served elsewhere. As a whole, the movie looked like it was hacked to pieces in the editing bay. One minute the lead character Kelly (played quite nicely by Shia LeBeouf) gets to drive the Jeep... then he's huffing it on a bike... then he has the Jeep again... then is back huffing it on the bike. It looks like info was missing as to why the character would alternate.As far as locations, they didn't have many: 3 houses, a school, a hospital, some woods, and a grocery store. Funny thing was, there were never many customers in the store. Heck, the Quick Stop in CLERKS had more customers (a.k.a. production value).Even more strange, the filmmakers appeared to recycle establishing shots. I could swear I saw the same establishing shots of Kelly's house and the grocery store recycled as if they didn't shoot different angles... and used the same shot more than once.Then, there is 'the kiss.' We've waited most of the movie for Kelly's big kiss with 'Tabby' (Amy Smart's character)... and it's a Jr. High kiss.All in all, THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS plays like a cheap TV movie that lacked a clear leader.In the future, I hope Miramax and Project Greenlight takes a good look at their system. Maybe a million dollars is too much... maybe nine producers are too many... maybe the crews are too big... maybe having too many trucks doesn't allow the filmmakers to be mobile and do better work.But one thing is certain: With all the resources given, the movies of Project Greenlight need to get better than the first two.