The Battle of Shaker Heights
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Shaker Heights is a 2003 comedy-drama
film co-directed by Efram Potelle
and Kyle Rankin
. It starred Shia La Beouf
, Elden Henson
, Kathleen Quinlan
, Amy Smart
, and Shiri Appleby
. The film was the winning script for the second season of Project Greenlight
.
), a young war reenactment
enthusiast, who works at his local store with love interest Sarah (Shiri Appleby
) and his friend, Bart Bowland (Elden Henson
) as they use military strategy against high school bully Lance (Billy Kay
). Kelly's father, Abe (William Sadler
), works with drug addicts, being clean himself for over 5 years, which is scorned by an angry Kelly, who, when told this, replies, "So what? I've been clean the whole time." His mother, Eve (Kathleen Quinlan
), is a commercial art
ist who works out of their garage and is desperate for Kelly to forgive his father. When confronted as to when he is going to forgive him, Kelly replies, "I'll forgive him when I can go to college. But I can't, can I, because he used all my college fund to buy Mexican Black Tar." Kelly is furious at his father for the torture he put him through.
At the same time, Kelly attempts to woo Bart's older sister, Tabby (Amy Smart
), even though she's set to get married to Miner Weber (Anson Mount
), a handsome businessman. Kelly becomes a regular at Bart's house, being over for dinner often, and he impresses Bart's father, Harrison (Ray Wise
), with their common fondness for war memorabilia, and Bart's mother by complimenting her on her flowers, and he often talks to Tabby in her workshop, pretending to know about painting in order to impress her after bluffing his way through conversation they had in an art store where he was collecting supplies for his mother. During this time, Sarah asks him to go to an Aerosmith
concert, which she has a spare ticket for, telling him it would be good for him to get out more. When he bluntly makes it clear that he knows it would be a date, he tells her he is seeing someone else, obviously meaning Tabby. Before Kelly and Bart perform their plan for Lance's humiliation, Bart makes it clear to Kelly that he knows he has "his own agenda", at which Kelly is insulted and angry, and Bart displaces it as "pre-mission nervous energy". They recreate an invasion on the street where Lance lives and drag him out of the house pointing guns at him and shouting at him with German accents. They videotape the whole thing and he urinates out of fear.
Afterwards the boys are drinking whiskey at Bart's house and Bart passes out in a chair by the fire. Kelly makes to go home and goes to the workshop to say goodbye to Tabby. He walks in on her crying, as she now thinks the marriage will be off and goes to comfort her, and they kiss. As Kelly is leaving, Bart sees him and is furious as he knew he was in the workshop. The next day, as Kelly is on a set for a war programme that Bart got them in, Bart hasn't turned up. Kelly is cast in a role to be a jeep driver and when his cue is called, Bart turns up out of the bushes and confronts him about Tabby. Kelly denies it at first and then becomes speechless. As he is about to drive for his cue, Bart attacks him in the jeep and they make a mess of the set.
The next day, Abe is taken into care again for relapsing and Kelly is emotionless. He goes to the wedding the same day, only to have an annoyed Bart tell him that he can't let him in. He sneaks into Tabby's limo before it pulls in and he talks to her, and it is a moment in which he finally realizes he must grow up. He gets out of the car and everyone at the wedding sees him and are all confused. He goes round the back of the church to get his bike and leave and meets Minor again, who has no idea of what happened with Kelly and Tabby, and is civil towards him. Kelly cycles to the clinic where his father is staying and is surprised. They begin to watch television and his mother walks in and is surprised and happy to see Kelly.
In the end, it shows the voicemail message where Kelly apologizes to the Bowlands for his behaviour and asks Bart if he will meet him where he will be selling all his old memorabilia, and gives a hat Bart acquired for him back. He is shown walking down the street with Sarah and they hold hands. Kelly sees Lance again on his lawn where they faked the invasion, and goes over to him and confesses, only to be punched in the jaw. The film ends with Kelly lying on the lawn, holding his bruised jaw saying, "I deserved it".
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film co-directed by Efram Potelle
Efram Potelle
Efram Potelle is a filmmaker from Portland, Maine, USA. He is now based in Los Angeles.He co-directed The Battle of Shaker Heights through the second season of HBO's Project Greenlight.-Filmography:*Hellholes *Insex...
and Kyle Rankin
Kyle Rankin
Kyle Rankin is a filmmaker.-Early life:Kyle Rankin went to school at the University of Maine in Orono where he founded the University's Film and Video Club...
. It starred Shia La Beouf
Shia LaBeouf
Shia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...
, Elden Henson
Elden Henson
Elden Henson is an American actor. He is best known for playing Fulton Reed in the Mighty Ducks trilogy with Emilio Estevez, and playing Lenny Kagan in The Butterfly Effect....
, Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Denise Quinlan is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, mostly seen on television and in motion pictures.-Personal life:...
, Amy Smart
Amy Smart
Amy Lysle Smart is an American television and film actress and former fashion model.-Early life:Smart was born in Topanga, California. Her mother, Judy Lysle , worked at a museum, and her father, John Boden Smart, was a salesman...
, and Shiri Appleby
Shiri Appleby
Shiri Freda Appleby is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her leading role as Liz Parker in the television series Roswell...
. The film was the winning script for the second season of Project Greenlight
Project Greenlight
Project Greenlight was a contest and television series focusing on first-time filmmakers being given the chance to direct a feature film. It was created by Alex Keledjian, developed by Eli Holzman and produced by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Sean Bailey, and Chris Moore through their production...
.
Plot
The plot revolves around Kelly Ernswiler (Shia La BeoufShia LaBeouf
Shia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...
), a young war reenactment
Combat reenactment
Combat reenactment is a side of historical reenactment which aims to depict historical forms of combat. This may refer to either single combat, melees involving small groups, or nearly full-scale battles with hundreds of participants....
enthusiast, who works at his local store with love interest Sarah (Shiri Appleby
Shiri Appleby
Shiri Freda Appleby is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her leading role as Liz Parker in the television series Roswell...
) and his friend, Bart Bowland (Elden Henson
Elden Henson
Elden Henson is an American actor. He is best known for playing Fulton Reed in the Mighty Ducks trilogy with Emilio Estevez, and playing Lenny Kagan in The Butterfly Effect....
) as they use military strategy against high school bully Lance (Billy Kay
Billy Kay (actor)
William Nathan "Billy" Kay is an American film and television actor. He played Lance Norway in 2003's The Battle of Shaker Heights, an independent film made following the Project Greenlight contest...
). Kelly's father, Abe (William Sadler
William Sadler (actor)
William Thomas Sadler is an American actor who works in film and television. His television and motion picture roles have included Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller in The Pacific, Luther Sloan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sheriff Jim Valenti in Roswell, convict Heywood in The Shawshank Redemption,...
), works with drug addicts, being clean himself for over 5 years, which is scorned by an angry Kelly, who, when told this, replies, "So what? I've been clean the whole time." His mother, Eve (Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Denise Quinlan is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, mostly seen on television and in motion pictures.-Personal life:...
), is a commercial art
Commercial art
Commercial art is historically a subsector of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. The term has become increasingly anachronistic in favor of more contemporary terms such as graphic design and advertising art.Commercial art traditionally...
ist who works out of their garage and is desperate for Kelly to forgive his father. When confronted as to when he is going to forgive him, Kelly replies, "I'll forgive him when I can go to college. But I can't, can I, because he used all my college fund to buy Mexican Black Tar." Kelly is furious at his father for the torture he put him through.
At the same time, Kelly attempts to woo Bart's older sister, Tabby (Amy Smart
Amy Smart
Amy Lysle Smart is an American television and film actress and former fashion model.-Early life:Smart was born in Topanga, California. Her mother, Judy Lysle , worked at a museum, and her father, John Boden Smart, was a salesman...
), even though she's set to get married to Miner Weber (Anson Mount
Anson Mount
Anson Adams Mount IV is an American actor who has appeared in both movies and television shows. Mount has also played Jim Steele on the short-lived NBC series Conviction and appeared in the independent movie Tully with Julianne Nicholson, as the title character Tully Coates, a playboy whose ways...
), a handsome businessman. Kelly becomes a regular at Bart's house, being over for dinner often, and he impresses Bart's father, Harrison (Ray Wise
Ray Wise
Raymond Nicolas "Ray" Wise is an American actor, known for his roles as Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks, as Leon C. Nash, right-hand henchman to villain Clarence Boddicker in the science fiction classic RoboCop, and recently as the Devil in the CW television series Reaper.-Life and career:Wise was...
), with their common fondness for war memorabilia, and Bart's mother by complimenting her on her flowers, and he often talks to Tabby in her workshop, pretending to know about painting in order to impress her after bluffing his way through conversation they had in an art store where he was collecting supplies for his mother. During this time, Sarah asks him to go to an Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
concert, which she has a spare ticket for, telling him it would be good for him to get out more. When he bluntly makes it clear that he knows it would be a date, he tells her he is seeing someone else, obviously meaning Tabby. Before Kelly and Bart perform their plan for Lance's humiliation, Bart makes it clear to Kelly that he knows he has "his own agenda", at which Kelly is insulted and angry, and Bart displaces it as "pre-mission nervous energy". They recreate an invasion on the street where Lance lives and drag him out of the house pointing guns at him and shouting at him with German accents. They videotape the whole thing and he urinates out of fear.
Afterwards the boys are drinking whiskey at Bart's house and Bart passes out in a chair by the fire. Kelly makes to go home and goes to the workshop to say goodbye to Tabby. He walks in on her crying, as she now thinks the marriage will be off and goes to comfort her, and they kiss. As Kelly is leaving, Bart sees him and is furious as he knew he was in the workshop. The next day, as Kelly is on a set for a war programme that Bart got them in, Bart hasn't turned up. Kelly is cast in a role to be a jeep driver and when his cue is called, Bart turns up out of the bushes and confronts him about Tabby. Kelly denies it at first and then becomes speechless. As he is about to drive for his cue, Bart attacks him in the jeep and they make a mess of the set.
The next day, Abe is taken into care again for relapsing and Kelly is emotionless. He goes to the wedding the same day, only to have an annoyed Bart tell him that he can't let him in. He sneaks into Tabby's limo before it pulls in and he talks to her, and it is a moment in which he finally realizes he must grow up. He gets out of the car and everyone at the wedding sees him and are all confused. He goes round the back of the church to get his bike and leave and meets Minor again, who has no idea of what happened with Kelly and Tabby, and is civil towards him. Kelly cycles to the clinic where his father is staying and is surprised. They begin to watch television and his mother walks in and is surprised and happy to see Kelly.
In the end, it shows the voicemail message where Kelly apologizes to the Bowlands for his behaviour and asks Bart if he will meet him where he will be selling all his old memorabilia, and gives a hat Bart acquired for him back. He is shown walking down the street with Sarah and they hold hands. Kelly sees Lance again on his lawn where they faked the invasion, and goes over to him and confesses, only to be punched in the jaw. The film ends with Kelly lying on the lawn, holding his bruised jaw saying, "I deserved it".
Cast
- Shia La BeoufShia LaBeoufShia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...
as Kelly Ernswiler - Elden HensonElden HensonElden Henson is an American actor. He is best known for playing Fulton Reed in the Mighty Ducks trilogy with Emilio Estevez, and playing Lenny Kagan in The Butterfly Effect....
as Bart Bowland - Amy SmartAmy SmartAmy Lysle Smart is an American television and film actress and former fashion model.-Early life:Smart was born in Topanga, California. Her mother, Judy Lysle , worked at a museum, and her father, John Boden Smart, was a salesman...
as Tabitha "Tabby" Bowland - Kathleen QuinlanKathleen QuinlanKathleen Denise Quinlan is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, mostly seen on television and in motion pictures.-Personal life:...
as Eve Ernswiler - Shiri ApplebyShiri ApplebyShiri Freda Appleby is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her leading role as Liz Parker in the television series Roswell...
as Sarah - William SadlerWilliam Sadler (actor)William Thomas Sadler is an American actor who works in film and television. His television and motion picture roles have included Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller in The Pacific, Luther Sloan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sheriff Jim Valenti in Roswell, convict Heywood in The Shawshank Redemption,...
as Abraham "Abe" Ernswiler - Billy KayBilly Kay (actor)William Nathan "Billy" Kay is an American film and television actor. He played Lance Norway in 2003's The Battle of Shaker Heights, an independent film made following the Project Greenlight contest...
as Lance Norway - Michael McShane as Mr. Norway
- Anson MountAnson MountAnson Adams Mount IV is an American actor who has appeared in both movies and television shows. Mount has also played Jim Steele on the short-lived NBC series Conviction and appeared in the independent movie Tully with Julianne Nicholson, as the title character Tully Coates, a playboy whose ways...
as Miner Weber - Hattie Wilson as Principal Holmstead