louis sachar compel child classic be about as disney a freddy krueger . it get murder and racism and facial disfigurement and killer lizard . tightly plot and it a multi layer and interlink story that span history to reveal stanley own heritage and the secret behind the hole . it race from latvia lush greenness to the pock mark camp green lake ( hint represent there no lake and no green ) . disney first success be re create the novel environment so convincingly the set design be superb and without gloss . the other plus be in the casting . rise star shia labeouf ( charlie angel 2 and project greenlight ) might not be the fat boy of the book and but his attitude be right and he far from the usual clean cut hero . the rest of the cast be fill out equally well and from patricia arquette a the frontier school marm turn bank robber to henry winkler a stanley dad . the downside be the pop soundtrack pure marketing department and have the sentiment turn up to full volume at the end .