How many times have you heard a trailer say of a movie, "Fun for the whole family"? Typically, these are movies that are aimed at children and also contain adult humor for the parents. However, these characteristics do not mean that these movies are meant for the entire family. Secondhand Lions actually is a movie for the whole family.
Story: young introvert Walter (Haley Joel Osment) is dropped off with his two eccentric uncles (Robert Duvall and Michael Caine) for the summer while his irresponsible mother goes to "learn court reporting." According to rumor, the two uncles, Hub and Garth, have millions hidden away from their forty-year disappearance (stolen from Al Capone, maybe?), and the mother wants Walter to get his uncles to like him so that they'll leave him all their money when they die. Over the summer, he learns of their adventures in Africa, grows a garden, deals with pesky relatives, takes care of a lion, and grows up.
On one level, this is a coming-of-age tale for Walter, who learns to trust people and stand up to his mother instead of going along with whatever she does and living however she wants him to live. He learns to have faith in the things that others might doubt--many stories float around to explain why the uncles are so rich, so is he going to believe the real story that Garth eventually tells him? He also finds out that he has to do what's right for him, rather than doing what others prescribe for him but might not be the best. There's a big difference between what's best for Walter and what's most convenient for his mother, and he has to find the willpower to stand up for himself, which is not easy.
Perhaps more importantly, though, this is a story about his two great-uncles, who grew old on the outside, but inside, their spirits are "as wild and restless" as they ever were. Hub in particular, who spent many years fighting in wars, feels like he has outlived his usefulness just because his body's getting old. He has much wisdom that he wants to share, but no one cares to hear what he has to say. However, when the occasion presents itself, he shows that he is more than capable of laying a verbal AND physical smackdown on a group of rowdy teenage boys. His statements embody how many people feel about growing old--their bodies are decaying rapidly, but inside, their souls haven't changed. Even though many will point out that there is only one lion in the movie, an old lioness that the uncles buy, this movie is called Secondhand Lions. Hub and Garth are also lions, metaphorically--once young and vigorous, now old gardeners, they still remember their adventurous youths and love the thrill of the hunt, which is what attracts them to somewhat dangerous enterprises. Thus, the movie presents us with two different types of youth. On one hand, we have a young boy physically growing up. On the other, we have two old men who still feel young on the inside, yet also have much wisdom from their experiences.
The uncles and Walter draw each other out of their introverted existences. At first, the uncles keep Walter around so that their relatives (Walt's mother isn't the only one after the fortune) will get tired of the attention Walter gets and leave. Then, they grow to like his company. When he arrives, Walter is daunted by the idea of spending a summer without a telephone or television with these two old men he's only just met. He's also not too happy with the tobacco they feed him. But, he later enjoys many of the things that his uncles do. Walter loves the Africa stories that Garth tells him, which provide some fun, Indiana Jones-style action. In an interesting twist, rather than seeing the stories as flashbacks, we see them as fantasies in Walter's mind, leading to one case where he revises a scene in his head after questioning what he's just heard and then getting the real story. He also tries to unravel the mystery of the woman in a photograph that he finds in an old trunk. Hub and Garth find that they have something to live for and feel like they have a purpose in their lives again. They have to be responsible uncles to a kid that they've grown to care about.
There is a great deal of humor in this film as well: the uncles looooooove their shotguns, whether they're used for shooting fish, skeet-shooting, or terrorizing traveling salesmen. The fantasies that Walter has about the Africa stories are fun, attaining the kind of epic adventure and sillyness that probably didn't happen, but which a kid would easily imagine. And did you know that Purina makes food for lions?
I really dig Michael Caine's Texan accent. If you ever perceive him slipping, remember this: after living abroad for decades, he wouldn't have a pure Texan accent anymore, but one mingled with that of the "tourists and Hollywood folk" that he had a lot of contact with in Africa. He and Duvall give great performances as old men who have spent their lives in exotic places and, and now that they've retired to the country, don't quite know what to do with themselves and only garden because one of them heard that "gardening is what retired people do."
This film was sadly overlooked when it came out in 2003, and I wish it hadn't been. It doesn't talk down to anyone, has some great performances, and is a warm-hearted, but never pandering, experience for children. It has themes that both children and adults can relate to. If you're looking for a movie that your whole family really can enjoy, try this one.
Next up, The Pacific. Boy, am I going to have a lot to say about that one.
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