Secondhand Lions has all the trappings of an adorable family movie. However, it
takes work from the viewer to make it so. The film's impressive cast includes
Haley Joel Osment as Walter, a young man around voice-breaking age whose mother
leaves him to stay with his two great uncles, Hub and Garth, i.e. Robert Duvall
and Michael Caine.
The uncles are rumored to be ridiculously wealthy and Walter's job is to find the
cash then hand it over to his mother. Walter's misery at being dumped on his
uncles is equal to their distaste for his being with them. It's not long,
however, before the trio find they have grounds for building and life together
and go about doing just that.
Walter asks his uncles about their lives and hears incredible stories that would
make Sheherezade proud. Hub--Robert Duvall--is the adventurer of the brothers,
but Garth--Michael Caine--narrates the stories to Walter's willing ears. The
stories come to life for us, through wild flashbacks with all the reality of
Disney. But the stories are charming, and although Walter doesn't believe
them--and neither do we--as the movie unfolds we begin to question our disbelief.
About midway through the film, the uncles buy a lion recently retired from the
zoo. The lion arrives and the uncles don safari suits and prepare for the hunt.
Their plan is derailed by the lion's refusal to leave its crate. So Walter
decides to adopt it instead. The lion is an important character in the film.
Not only is the title explained, but we also glean an important insight into the
inter-generational relationships.
Secondhand Lions is an adorable movie. It speaks loudly to the sandwich
generation, those simultaneously caring for their kids and their parents.
Although billed as a family movie, trust me, it's not Finding Nemo. The
three-year-old in the row behind me had to ask her parents about every aspect of
the story.
Plot coherence was problematic for those older than three. Each scene of
Secondhand Lions is beautifully put together and highly significant to the story.
There are many touching moments between Garth and Hub and Walter. However, I
didn't feel that the scenes were well enough linked. Views are required to fill
in too many blanks. Instead of being fully immersed in the story, we often
wonder how we got to this point so quickly. I'm guessing that important filler
material was left on the cutting room floor and I think the movie suffers a
little because of it.
That said, Secondhand Lions is such a delight. Michael Caine and Robert Duvall
are engaging and fun as the old geezers with attitude and Haley Joel Osment is
charmingly vulnerable as the teenager with issues. Although I left the theatre
disappointed that the movie didn't spin a more effective yarn, time has allowed
me to put the pieces together quite well.
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