"Secondhand Lions": A DVD Movie Review

I discovered the next film I'm about to review quite by accident. I'm not sure how I missed it when it first came out to DVD but I did. I caught it recently when it showed on television.

The name of the film is "Second Hand Lions." It stars Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, and Haley Joe Osment. The film centers on Osment's character, a young boy named Walter.

Walter is a lost soul, the victim of his mother's (played by Kyra Sedgwick) self-centered need to please herself rather than take care of her son. She could care less what her son wants or needs. All she cares about is having a man in her life for sexual gratification and to take care of her.

After Mae (Sedgwick) meets a new man, she decides to dump her son on the doorstep of his great uncles, Garth (Caine) and Hub (Duvall). These two confirmed bachelors are believed to be harboring a small fortune somewhere on their property; the result of their misbegotten youth. Mae, of course, hopes that Walter can make a connection with his uncles so they will want to leave some of the money to him.

Of course Walt isn't interesting in staying with his uncles and they aren't that interested in having him around. However, in spite of those facts, the three eventually make friends and become a strange, yet workable family.

Garth regales Walt with stories of their past as members of the French Foreign Legion. He tells them about Hub's great romance with a foreign princess and how he rescued the girl away from her husband, a vicious sheik.

Although Walter doesn't really believe Garth's stories, he enjoys them and suspects that there are threads of truth hidden within him. However, he eventually learns that the stories are anything but exaggerated. If anything, Garth has hidden some of the more adventurous aspects.

While the men's distant relatives all try to ingratiate themselves in order to get part of their fortune, Walter wonders how they can't see what they are missing by not getting to know the men better. He finds that he is perfectly comfortable living with these odd men who have no idea what it takes to raise a young boy, but nonetheless offer him unconditional love.

When Hub buys a lion from a local zoo, in hopes of hunting it on the property, Walt explains why he can't do that. Of course, the man soon sees the error of his ways and allows the boy to keep the old, secondhand lion for a pet.

That proves to be one of Hub's best decisions. The lion saves Walt's life when his mother returns to collect him with her new boyfriend in tow. The man demands that Walter tell him where the fortune is hidden and, when he refuses, he begins beating the child. The lion jumps out and stops him cold.

It is then that Walter convinces his mother to do something different for the first time in her life. He implores her to think of him instead of herself and allow him to remain with his uncles. She eventually agrees.

The next time Walter is seen, he is full grown (not played by Josh Lucas) and the writer of children's books. His stories are centered on adventures lived by his beloved uncles.

Duvall is amazing in the role of Hub. It isn't a bit difficult to picture him as a rip-roaring hero in the Foreign Legion. He is equally endearing as the somewhat gruff, yet softhearted, uncle to a boy desperately in need of love.

Caine is equally fantastic as Garth. The actor plays an unassuming character better than anyone ever put on film. Yet, he infuses his characters with so much depth and heart that they turn out to be totally unforgettable.

Osment is charming as Walter. The young actor had not yet turned into the teen terror that roams Hollywood today. He was utterly believable as a lost soul in search of something in which he could believe.

Sedgwick is creepy and unsympathetic as Mae. It is a definite departure from the roles that the actress typically plays.

Tim McCanlies both wrote the screenplay and directed the film. He performed admirably in both roles. The story is heartwrenchingly beautiful in its simplicity. It is both written and directed like the masterpiece that it is meant to be.

"Secondhand Lions" is a mesmerizing coming-of-age film. It is difficult to look away after watching the first 10 minutes. But then, why should anyone want to? This is a priceless film that deserves to be a multi-generational classic. I give it four out of five stars.

Rating scale used:

0 = Stinker. Don't waste the money!
1 = Bad. Rent it at your own risk.
2 = Below Average. See it only if you have time to kill.
2.5 = Average. A toss up.
3 = Good. Worth a looksee.
3.5 = Very Good. I recommend it.
4 = Excellent. Don't miss it!
4.5 = Outstanding. What are you waiting for?
5 = Destined to become a classic. You will be sorry if you don't see it.