`SHAKER HEIGHTS' LOSES BATTLE OF COHESIVENESS.

Byline: Scott Holleran Correspondent

`THE BATTLE of Shaker Heights,'' the winner of ``Project Greenlight's'' second screenwriting contest, could have been worse.

What must have read like a charming coming-of-age story set in the suburbs on the printed page has its moments and features some talented actors, but the film feels mostly like it was made by committee, which, essentially, it was.

The script, written by Erica Beeney, was chosen by several Miramax executives, four producers, including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and a representative from the corporate sponsor, Blockbuster, which plastered its logo on several scenes. The directors, Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle, were selected separately, and it shows - ``The Battle of Shaker Heights'' is poorly integrated. Of course, everybody had a chance to watch the process unfold on the HBO reality series ``Project Greenlight,'' which has aired throughout the summer and traced the making of the film.

The plot involves an intelligent and sarcastic high school student, Kelly (Shia La Beouf), who is several ABC Afterschool Special characters rolled into one. His dad is a recovering drug addict, his mom is a flake, he's got a crush on his best friend's sister and a bully beats him up at school. Add to these dilemmas Kelly's job at the local convenience store - where his co-worker has a crush on him - and his hobby of re-enacting war history.

Carried by La Beouf's performance, ``Shaker Heights'' conveys adolescence with humor and tenderness, particularly when Kelly's chasing after artist Tabby (Amy Smart), the older sister of his war games pal, Bart, played by Elden Henson (``The Mighty''). But all of the important scenes are too short, most are contrived, and few ring true.

When Kelly gets drunk with Bart one night, he ventures over to big sister's studio and nearly knocks over a lamp. It's a funny scene - but only for a flash. Directors Rankin and Potelle, at the crucial moment when Kelly might become vulnerable to the older woman, restore Kelly to his caustic teen state as if he had been drinking Mountain Dew. Before long, he's firing off put-downs to Tabby's good-looking fiance (Anson Mount).

There are other such basic problems - veteran actress Kathleen Quinlan (``Apollo 13'') is truly awful as Kelly's mother - including a life- threatening illness that ranks among Hollywood's most remarkable recoveries and an uninvolving revenge plot against the bully.

Ultimately, writer Beeney, whose sensitive, troubled teen is at her story's center, doesn't have much to say. Kelly's emotional resolutions - with parents, with his best friend and with the bully - are delivered with pat ``Afterschool Special'' endings.

The final frames portray Kelly paired in suburban romance. Yet one leaves the theater with the sense that the bright young teenager has been hurt and hardened, not necessarily matured, and that the struggling kid deserves a better fate.

THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS - two stars

(PG-13: mild profanity)

Starring: Shia La Beouf, Elden Henson.

Directors: Kyle Rankin, Efram Potelle.

Running time: 1 hr. 18 min.

Playing: Arclight in Hollywood; AMC Santa Monica in Santa Monica.

In a nutshell: Poorly integrated script will appeal only to die-hard fans of the HBO companion series about the movie's making.