Posted: 09/22/2003

Secondhand Lions

(2003)

by Hank Yuloff

Don’t wait for this to be on the secondhand movie shelf—see it now.

If you were going to go to a movie this weekend with your parents, Secondhand Lions would be a good one to see. First, it stars two of America’s favorite actors in the title roles and second, it tells an amusing tale that is family friendly.

Michael Caine and Robert Duvall star (in their 109th and 84th movies respectively) as two aging brothers, Garth and Hub, that seem to be sitting, literally, on millions of dollars, the origin of which, no one can truly pin down. But the legend grows to the point that their finest amusement is to sit on their front porch every day, taking pot shots at the fortune hunting traveling salesmen who make the trek up the long dirt road that is the driveway to their not-so-stately Texas farmhouse in the 1960’s.

Their side of the story has them spending the past 40 years in Africa, fighting in the French Foreign Legion and in other mercenary like situations. The other possibility is that they were bank robbers. We are given insight into that story when their niece, Kyra Sedgewick (Door to Door) drops off her son Walter at their house while she goes to Court Reporting School or wherever the wind takes her. Her instructions to Walter include getting in good with them and finding the money. Walter, played by Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense, Bogus) is getting to that age where he is none too pleased with his mom’s foibles but is willing to forgive them in exchange for what he hopes is a mother’s love.

I sat enraptured by the story. Caine and Duvall are both gentle and volatile as the two men who have always lived life their way and have a low tolerance for BS. I think that is why they were so willing to take in a great-nephew they had never met to live with them for what could be an indeterminate time. As Walter and the brothers grow more accustomed to each other their willingness to share their lives becomes more heartwarming. It is as though Walter has brought a spark of youth to Garth and Hub that they were beginning to miss. It is about that time in the movie that an actual lion comes into the movie - and her story mixing with the brothers is as touching as anything else in the film.

Commenting on the acting is kind of useless here. Ever seen either of these gentlemen do anything less than a wonderful job? They are immediately likable and I would watch them all over again. Osment is very good as Walter, but sometimes I am not sure if he pulled a little too much of his movements from his A.I. Roll - a little too awkward. Could be because he 15 and beginning to make that jump from child actor to adult actor. The next few years could be difficult for him professionally, but I am guessing he had lots of time with too statesmen of acting and that will help enormously. This was a good time to take this roll. Most of the other characters are 1-dimensional, relatives vying for the money, hoodlum wannabees, or Walter’s mom and boyfriend. But to flesh out their roles would have taken time from Duvall and Caine so I am willing to live with that.

There is one major problem with the story - the timeline. It does not work. We see Garth and Hub as 20-year-olds getting off the boat in France in 1914. From there, if you add the 40 or so years they were in Africa, this movie should take place in the 1950’s but it is a decade off. That would make them in their 60’s during the bulk of the movie. At the other end of the story we go into current time for the postscript and it seems that it is about 15 years too far. I am sure that writer/director Tim McCanlies would have some artistic license type of answer for me but when it comes to making the kind of decision like “best movies ever,” it is the exact looseness in a story that keeps an incredibly good movie from being a great movie. Nonetheless, this is the second Robert Duvall movie in a month that I am telling you to go spend your $8 to see in the theater. You will not be the slightest bit disappointed.

Hank Yuloff is a huge fan of getting a second wind and watching Secondhand Lions is just that kind of movie.

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