Secondhand Lions (2004, VHS)

I try to catch movies while they're in the theater as much as possible, but once in awhile a great one slips by me. Luckily I did finally catch this one on DVD. Man I wish I had seen it on the big screen. This is one of those stories where old-meets-young and they both learn something. Not a new premise at all, but done ever so much better here. Haley Joel Osment is the young lad in this case. His mom is a gold-digging idiot who drops him off at her great uncles' house.. uncles who have been missing for 40 years and only just resurfaced. Rumor has it they are hording millions. Osment is...

I first saw a preview for Secondhand Lions a few months ago when I went to see a movie. I thought it looked like it would be good and I decided that I wanted to see it. I was finally able to go see it. I did enjoy the movie. I was also happy to be able to see the trailed for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King before the movie. Walter was a young teenage boy who was taken to stay with his two great uncles, Garth and Hub, by his mother Mae in the 1960's. Walter didn t want to stay with them, but Mae told him how the two hadn t been back in Texas for long and how they were supposed to.

I absolutely adored Secondhand Lions. I laughed. I teared up just a bit (though not much). And, the movie was creative and campy enough to be interesting but not annoying. By the time the film was over, I felt like I had been royally entertained. The show opens with Mae dumping her pre-teen son on the steps of her great uncle s farm in Texas. She says she is off to college, but she is chasing men (again). Plus, she s heard that the old uncles are filthy rich, and she thinks that Walter may locate the loot. In any case, she s ready to be shed of her responsibilities for a while, and when...

With Haley Joel Osment's awkward transition into puberty, his latest feature Secondhand Lions had the potential to make or break his career. In my eyes, it really didn't do either of the two - it just kind of "was". Even those who live vicariously through the achievements of their Hollywood idols probably would still hesitate to place any bets on Osment's future based on what they saw here. Thankfully, Secondhand Lions is an engrossing enough experience that you won't be thinking about all that throughout the movie. Maybe just in a few spots. Osment plays the role of 12-year old Walter, a kid.