Forgotten Film Friday: Secondhand Lions

A retrospective by Forrest Humphrey

So I'd like to kick off Robert Duvall month with what might be an odd pick, but hey, its Forgotten Film Friday and this was the movie that introduced me to the actor: Secondhand Lions. Released in 2003, the film is a comedy-drama set in the 1960's where Robert Duvall and Michael Caine play a pair of eccentric old uncles who have to watch their introverted nephew, played by a young Haley Joel Osment, while his ditzy mother goes to school, or so she claims.

What unfolds is a frequently heartwarming and hilarious story where the young boy and old men start their time together aloof but grow closer and closer until by the end, they are as close as family could be. Duvall and Caine play perfectly off each other, as one would expect of two talented actors who have been in the business as long as they have. Duvall in particular is the star here, able to perfectly play a cranky old man slowly softened up by a youngster who desperately needs family, and his character's backstory gives him time to show his dramatic range too in several poignant scenes that might just tug at those heart strings. Caine might take a slight backseat in the film, but he's also excellent, and Osment can be a bit stiff or overplay a scene, but he's young, performs ably and sells his part just fine.

A message in the film a love and didn't appreciate when I first saw it lies in the bond the two men form with their nephew and how they all help each other for the better. Family doesn't end with the immediate, and sometimes you find the love you need in unlikely places. It might be cheesy but its true.

The movie does have a dedicated cult following, and I imagine many may have at least seen the beloved bar fight scene where Duvall hilariously schools a group of young thugs on how to fight when they try and act tough, or the unlikely series of events leading to a lion living in a cornfield. It might be tricky to find but I can't recommend the film enough. `Secondhand Lions` is sweet and wholesome, and it'll have you snickering the whole time too.

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