Rating: 
Summary: amazing
Review: listen...if you are over 20 please dont even critizize this movie...you have no right, you can no talk bad about a movie that deals with someones teenage years when you are in your 30's...so please ignore the select few reviews, they really do not know what their talking about...for a teenager this movie relfects upon alot of ideas, dealing with highschool, love, lust, etc...if you dont enjoy teen related drama and such, its simple, dont watch this movie...thanks
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!!!
Review: My husband and I both absolutely loved this movie! Its a cute coming of age comedy .. we watched the series of the making of this movie and were so anxious to see it we drove 2 and a half hours to Cleveland to see it .. let me say it was well worth the trip! I must agree I dont know if someone who didnt watch the series would appreciate it as much .. but its still a good movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Lovely film succeeds despite industry dolts.
Review: Putting Chris Moore in charge of a film with human emotion, psychological depth, and warm humor is like hiring Howard Stern to produce The Secret Garden. Moore, as you might know if you watched the Project Greenlight television series, has the subtlety of an ox (he actually did manage to shatter a defenseless chair under his formidable bulk), a point more than reconfirmed by the litany of teen sex films he's chosen to perpetrate on the American public. The latest of these sorry movies, American Wedding, is a perfect summation of Moore's contributions to filmdom. So, you know what the young, naive amateurs of Project Greenlight were up against.And it's worth recounting what else they were up against: a miniscule budget of just over $1,000,000 (yes, in Hollywood, there are so many mouths at the trough that a million bucks barely gets you a no frills, no looking back dash to the finish line, if that); a compressed schedule that required six months from first draft script to final, polished film; a single test screening just weeks before final edits had to be completed; directors who had no power to inject their own creativity in the conversion of the screenplay to the film; and the almost non-involvement of the contest's sponsoring celebrities. All of this is more than apparent from the HBO series on the making of this film. Against this backdrop, Battle of Shaker Heights is a wonder. It tells a touching story of a young man coming to grips with his own unhappiness, and the difficulties of navigating the strange waters between childhood and adulthood. Sure, it isn't exactly an original theme, but Shia LeBouef's Kelly, the lead character, comes across like a real human being, someone of flesh, blood, and ideas. At the end of Shaker Heights, I wished that I could see more of Kelly, perhaps count him among my friends. That's a rare feat for a film, and a real tribute to the young writer and directors. There likely will be another version of this DVD down the pike--one that includes the television show and director commentaries.
Rating: 
Summary: Miriminumum.
Review: Shame, this. "The Battle of Shaker Heights" is a slight time-waster with some fun dialogue and great performances. But there's a much stronger, deeper movie in here somewhere. Unfortunately, that movie is somewhere on the Mirimax cutting room floor. This year's installment of "Project Greenlight" was really amusing. I liked all three of the winners - Kyle, Efram and Erica - and the movie seemed like it had potential to be a great one. But K & E, who seemed to get unfairly villified as arrogant control freaks, were unprepared to get slammed against the Mirimax machine. They made mistakes. They weren't team players. But they have talent and an honest vision, and their movie really could have been great. Instead, we have this, a 75-minute lightweight job that touches on many subjects and characters, only to "resolve" them with two-sentence exchanges. Think of all the missed opportunities here. The parents. The fiance. The bully, who is fascinatingly literate and short of stature. Bart's parents. And, most importantly, Kelly himself. Shia's performance is deeply perceptive and natural, but this cut of the movie refuses to let us see the source of Kelly's anger and intelligence. All we get is an awkward "One day I got angry" speech. There's a heart in "The Battle of Shaker Heights," and there's genuine talent on the screen and behind the cameras. Unfortunately, the Chris Moore's and Harvey Weinstein's of the world have molded that heart and talent into a shapeless piece of throwaway Mirimax entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Miriminumum.
Review: Shame, this. "The Battle of Shaker Heights" is a slight time-waster with some fun dialogue and great performances. But there's a much stronger, deeper movie in here somewhere. Unfortunately, that movie is somewhere on the Mirimax cutting room floor. This year's installment of "Project Greenlight" was really amusing. I liked all three of the winners - Kyle, Efram and Erica - and the movie seemed like it had potential to be a great one. But K & E, who seemed to get unfairly villified as arrogant control freaks, were unprepared to get slammed against the Mirimax machine. They made mistakes. They weren't team players. But they have talent and an honest vision, and their movie really could have been great. Instead, we have this, a 75-minute lightweight job that touches on many subjects and characters, only to "resolve" them with two-sentence exchanges. Think of all the missed opportunities here. The parents. The fiance. The bully, who is fascinatingly literate and short of stature. Bart's parents. And, most importantly, Kelly himself. Shia's performance is deeply perceptive and natural, but this cut of the movie refuses to let us see the source of Kelly's anger and intelligence. All we get is an awkward "One day I got angry" speech. There's a heart in "The Battle of Shaker Heights," and there's genuine talent on the screen and behind the cameras. Unfortunately, the Chris Moore's and Harvey Weinstein's of the world have molded that heart and talent into a shapeless piece of throwaway Mirimax entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: A very well-done coming of age flick
Review: Shia Lebeouf plays Kelly Ernswiler, a high school senior trying to just survive life in this comedy-drama by directors Efram Potelle and Kyle Rankin in what is arguably there biggest job yet. Kelly is a young man who enjoys reinacting famous battles from past wars. This is partly a way of reliving history, and a partly a way of escaping life with his recovering drug addict father, played by William Sadler of The Green Mile, and his mother, played by Kathleen Quinlen from Apollo 13. Kelly still hasn't found a way to forgive his father for his past abuses, so he prefers to spend the day with his new friend Bart Rowland and his wealthy family. Bart and Kelly strike up a friendship over their shared love of history and Kelly's desire to strike back at a school bully. Along the way, Kelly finds himself attracted to Bart's older sister, Tabby, a girl engaged to another man, which threatens to destroy their friendship. This is a very rich coming-of-age story with characters you can't help falling in love with. Kelly's character is complex, and there are times you want to strangle him, but you feel his heart is in the right place. Shia Lebeouf does a tremendous job in his role. After Holes and Charlie's Angels, you can feel that this young man has a great future ahead of him. The supporting cast played their roles perfectly, and the script was very welldone. From the minute you start watching this film, you can't take your eyes off of it. It didn't get 5 stars due to the lack of extras. Being a Project Greenlight winner, you would think that they would have had plenty of material. Given that and the short 77 minute running time, it loses a star. Overall though, I highly recommend this film if you want to see a perfectly well-rounded movie that has very few flaws.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, Entertaining...and Short
Review: This is a well written, entertaining film from the Project Greenlight series. Kelly is beautifully acted by young Shia LaBleuf (his performance is worth watching the movie alone). Shaker Heights follows 17-year old Kelly has he progresses from rebellious smart alleck to a caring adolescent. Kelly's off the cuff remarks are humorous throughout as he often "says whatever enters his mind". Kelly befriends Bart through their mutual interest in war reenactments. Bart's sister Taddy quickly becomes Kelly's object of affection. Kelly's attempts at courting Taddy are also often humorous. Shaker Heights clocks in at under 80 minutes. I recommend that this is time well spent.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, Entertaining...and Short
Review: This is a well written, entertaining film from the Project Greenlight series. Kelly is beautifully acted by young Shia LaBleuf (his performance is worth watching the movie alone). Shaker Heights follows 17-year old Kelly has he progresses from rebellious smart alleck to a caring adolescent. Kelly's off the cuff remarks are humorous throughout as he often "says whatever enters his mind". Kelly befriends Bart through their mutual interest in war reenactments. Bart's sister Taddy quickly becomes Kelly's object of affection. Kelly's attempts at courting Taddy are also often humorous. Shaker Heights clocks in at under 80 minutes. I recommend that this is time well spent.
Rating:
Summary: second Project Greenlight winner
Review: This is the second film distributed by the fine folks at Project Greenlight, and it is a coming-of-age film about Kelly Ernswiler, an angsty, intelligent, picked-on high school senior played very well by Shia LaBeouf, Other actors are fine though Erica Beeney's script seems to have suffered in the process of making the film, and the direction is unimaginative though competent. There are some terrific moments and characters, but ultimately has nothing new to contribute to this well-worn genre.
Rating:
Summary: The project greenlight movie
Review: This movie caught me off guard, I had no real idea what the film was about. The opening scene really throws the audience off guard and I felt it set a nice tone for the rest of the movie. Sure the movie might be a bit of a teen movie, but the battle re-enactments and unique characters sets it apart from the rest of the genre.
Overall, the movie has a great personality. It kept me smiling and curious the whole way through and in the end, everything was tied together pretty well. This is a great movie to watch when you are bored and looking for something different.
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