因为一双运动鞋,斯坦利(Shia LaBeouf 饰)被关进了德克萨斯州的拘留所之中,尽管斯坦利实则无辜,但他祖上遗留下来的坏运气让他毫无疑问地遭受到了并不公正的审判。为了逃脱牢狱之灾,斯坦利选择了前往德州绿湖营进行劳动改造,然而,着却正是他噩梦的开始。 绿湖营位于一片 茫茫的沙漠之中,这里的管理员将来这里劳动改造的孩子们视为奴隶,处处苛责刁难,甚至布置了一个看似毫无意义的任务——在已经干涸的河床上挖洞。很快,斯坦利便开始怀疑,管理员的这一要求背后隐藏着某些不可告人的秘密,一批传说中埋在河床里的宝藏随之浮出了水面,而这批宝藏和斯坦利的家族亦有着千丝万缕的关联。"But if you forget to come back for Madame Zeroni, you and your family will be cursed for always and eternity." Those were the exact words spoken to young Elya Yelnats the day he forgot to repay Madame Zeroni. From then on his family was cursed with bad luck. One hundred years later Stanley Yelnats IV is accused of stealing a pair of cleats from a major league baseball player and sent to Camp Green Lake (a dry lake bed in the middle of the desert). It never rains at Camp Green Lake, it hasn't for one hundred years. The secretive and mysterious Warden has each inmate spend every day digging one hole to "build character." But when an artifact from the famous "Kissin' Kate" Barlow is found in a hole, the Warden forces the boys to work double time leading Stanley to deduce they're digging because the Warden is looking for something. But what? And how is the mystery of Camp Green Lake connected to Stanley's family curse?