nikeno71 The film was one of those small films that packed a lot of heart. I felt everything that Kelly(Shia LaBeouf) was going through. A parent that doesn't care effects the child I don't care what they say. It hurts because are suppose to be there for their children no matter what. It had it's funny moments too because laughter is human nature. The love triangle worked too. It wasn't too long or too short. So that helped me really like the film. I recommend this film to anyone. Especially up and coming filmmakers. I also enjoyed watching it being made, and this is also the reason Shia is a star. In 2003, Holes, this, and "The Even Stevens Movie" is what made him huge overnight, and I really think people should recognize that.

mxracer157 teenage angst. who hasn't faced this horror themselves? this movie was well written. cant really think of a movie it copied, but the teenage friendship, teenage love and family resentment shine brightly. Shia, who reminds me of the kid from the TV show Boy Meets World does a great job showing how imagination can make you strive forth. you can see the way he lusts after Tabby, played by the beautiful Amy Smart. but in the same way Kelly wants Tabby, the checkout girl Sarah played by Shiri Appleby wants Kelly. This movie is wonderful, makes you laugh at many options. The way the characters mesh with each other also shines. whoever picked this cast, did a wonderful job. Anymovie that has a well rounded cast and that. This movie definitely makes you remember your teenage years. It also makes you want to stand up to an authority figure now and let them know they don't know everything. one great movie perfect for anyones collection!

caspian1978 This is an independent movie? No, it is what a studio gets when they force Hollywood ideology on an independent production. For starters, I am sick to think that this script was the best out of over 15,000 scripts that were submitted in the Project Greenlight competition. Second, the direction in the movie is far from anything gritty or original. A generic style of anything basic, Shaker Heights is more of a student film with Hollywood production value than anything gritty or truly independent. Third, the casting of this film was hit and miss. Half of the actors were excellent while the other half simply read their lines from the script and nothing else. A simple rule in movie making that this production failed to follow was the relationship of the leading role with the movie. Your leading man . woman must identify with some percentage of the audience. If nobody understand what the character is going through, they don't care. Not only does the leading character fail to progress or change as a person by the end of the movie, but the characters motivation is pointless and the audience loses interest with him before we reach the half way point. If this was a low budget and a true independent film, I could see not being so negative. But I can't. If you spend over 1 million dollars and you have professional cast and crew members working for you, it is your job to produce a good film. Shaker Heights is not a good film. My two cents.

John Smith <Partial Spoiler... Not too bad though>Well, the studio won out and the film was released as a comedy. I enjoyed the film very much. But, as with most films I was dissapointed with the ending. Most of the comedy was of a sarcastic nature and intertwined with elements of tension. I was hoping that the early dramatic elements, which seemed to be building up to something, would lead to a climatic scene where Father and Son reconcile in a big hospital scene.<Spoiler> The scene, which took a full day to shoot lasted only three or so minutes and had no real climatic value. Just when you expect the big moment, they cut away to another scene. <End Spoiler>There were some not-so-obvious comedic moments. In one scene, Kelly is painting on a white canvas with white paint.In conclusion, I think that the studio played this film down and did not give the audience enough credit to read through the comedic aspects of the film and see the real tension and drama behind the comedy.I hope that a director's cut will be included in the DVD release.