Secondhand Lions

This is the story of a young boy who has been dumped at his uncles' place by him mother. Walter (Hale Joel Osment) is not happy and his two uncles, Hub and Garth (Robert Duval and Michael Caine) aren't thrilled either. They only want to be left alone. Mae (Kyra Sedgwick), Walter's mother, has different plans. Hub and Garth have just returned after vanishing for decades, supposedly with millions in cash and Mae is hoping to get that money by having it willed to Walter.

The two grumpy brothers have no choice but to take him in, and much to their delight he is absolutely hated by other members of their family who have the same idea as Mae. So Hub and Garth decide that in order to keep the other relatives away, they'll keep Walter.

As they spend time together Walter grows on the brothers and Hub starts telling him stories of their youth  Apparently they were kidnapped in Paris in 1914 and 'volunteered' for the French Foreign Legion. During the war they were stationed in Africa and they stayed after the war, Hub, by being a tour guide and Garth by staying with the Legion. Young Garth, played by Christian Kane, finds true love with Jasmine, a beautiful princess. Together they outwit a sheik several times and make off with bags and bags of his gold.

With many small adventures of his own, including raising a lion in the wilds of the backyard cornfield, Walter starts feeling at home here, probably for the first time in his life. The feeling is ruined when Mae shows back up with a new boyfriend and tells Walter that his uncles are bank robbers. Therefore the money they have is free to be stolen again. Walter, believing the stories of Africa, refuses to tell them anything about the gold. Then he begs his mother to leave him there with his uncles instead of dragging him around the country as she was doing previously. She agrees and Walter returns home.

I can't believe it. There's a movie with flashbacks that I actually enjoyed. I think it was because it was done in such a way that you couldn't tell what was going to happen. In most flashbacks you know the outcome, but with this one, you couldn't even tell if it was the truth or not until the end of the movie. It was a story within the movie. I loved it. That and I love Christian Kane. I was a little sad how he only got like one line in the movie.

I'm not much for dramatic, coming of age stories, but I really enjoyed this one. Caine and Duval are just such wonderful actors that you can't help believe whatever they say. And I am continuously surprised at how good Osment is. I keep forgetting he's talented.

This was a beautiful story filled with love and adventure and a romantic storyline that I could actually stomach and really cool fight scenes. My favorite is when Garth beat the crap out of the teenagers. That was funny, I laugh every time I see that.  Watching this movie just makes you feel happy afterwards.

And they shoot at traveling salesmen. What's not to love?

Grade: 9/10