Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Secondhand Lions (2003)
Director: Tim McCanlies
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
In the absence of a decent father figure, two grumpy old gits provide essential male-bonding to a kid on the cusp of adulthood. Anthony Hopkins came a cropper with something similar in Hearts of Atlantis, but here the day is saved by witty dialogue, crisp acting and a cracking adventure, in which myth and magic are mixed with plenty of fun stuff. Mom (Sedgwick) dumps 14-year-old Walt (Osment) on her two uncles for the summer, in hopes he'll find the fortune rumoured to be hidden on their remote Texas ranch. The curmudgeons, Garth and Hub (Caine and Duvall), are as unhappy to see Walt as he is to be there, but with time, a second-hand lion (bought by Hub for game-hunting purposes, but adopted by Walt), and a heap of storytelling, the frosts thaw. Heart-warming is usually a by-word for mawkish mush, but watching these old-timers badmouth greedy relatives, loose off rounds at unsolicited salesmen, and whup a bunch of loudmouth punks really is entertaining, and affecting. Best of all, perhaps, is the sensitivity with which the ageing process is handled. Garth and Hub simply aren't ready for the scrapheap, a fact poignantly mirrored in the fortunes of their nemesis, the motheaten old lion.Author: JFu
Cast & crew
Director: Tim McCanlies
Producer: David Kirschner, Scott Ross, Corey Sienega
Cast: Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Haley Joel Osment, Nicky Katt, Kyra Sedgwick, Michael O'Neill, Deirdre O'Connell, Christian Kane, Eric Balfour, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Josh Lucas, Adam Ozturk full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 109 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.
What do you think?
Post your review now