By: debbie lynn elias
Tim McCanlies wrote “Secondhand Lions” over ten years ago. Protecting his story and vision like a mother lion protects her cub, McCanlies waited to bring the project to the big screen until he was able to direct the picture himself. His passion for this project is evident in the final product.
Walter is a shy, introverted, 14-year old who is left by his less than responsible mother at the home of his cantankerously crotchety – and extremely eccentric – great uncles, Hub and Garth McCann. Local legend has it that the McCanns are rich and that their money may be ill-gotten due to careers as bank robbers, war criminals or even Mafia hit men who robbed Al Capone. Located in the middle of nowhere, the McCann residence gives new meaning to the term “rural.” No television, no phone, no people within miles.
Despite the rumors, the McCann spread is anything but palatial, but it still has all the charm of Opie Taylor’s fishing pond in Mayberry. For entertainment, the uncles sit on the front porch of their run-down just larger than a shanty style home, cleaning their guns. Despite ponds and fields and trees and places that look perfect for a Huck Finn-Tom Sawyer adventure, Walter is not a happy camper.
Burying himself in a third floor turret room, Walter stumbles onto a stack of old trunks covered in travel stickers from exotic places. In one trunk, he finds a photograph of a beautiful woman hidden underneath a layer of sand. Inquisitive by nature, but generally too timid to ask, Walter gets up the nerve to ask his uncles about the trunks, the stickers and the woman, prompting Garth to spin a yarn for Walter, telling him about the mysterious secret known only to Hub and Garth – the tale of the clan of the “Secondhand Lions.” As the story unfolds, we are given insight into the history each man has lived and events that prompted them to become who they are and why they live as they do today. Seems that grouchy old Hub was even married to an Arabian princess named Jasmine.
Walter’s presence has a positive affect on the old men. They find humor in the fact that Walter’s presence upsets other relatives who make weekly visits to Hub and Garth hoping to worm their way into a cut of their rumored fortune. Walter even convinces his uncles to spend some money, leading Garth to take up gardening and Hub to buy a plane kit and help Walter in rescuing an old lioness whom he names Jasmine and raises as a pet.
McCanlies has uniquely told this story through the eyes of a child. Although much of the story is done through flashbacks as Garth spins his tales of the fantastic and faraway, the imagery is that envisioned by Walter leading one to believe that in their youth, Hub and Garth were a mix of a dashing Erroll Flynn and adventurous Indiana Jones. Colorfully exciting, we have tales of Africa and the French Foreign Legion, princesses, swashbuckling, life and death. Whether the stories are all true is never known, but the more you hear them, the more you see them, the more you believe them. His story also excels in showing Walter’s coping with abandonment and loss, gaining confidence and maturity and becoming a man – all under the watchful eyes of his uncles – who, despite their apparent uselessness – have the innate instincts of a mother lion guarding her cub. McCanlies’ well-crafted direction keeps things simple, letting the story be the focus without unnecessary trappings and hidden visual subtleties.
Enhancing the story and McCanlies’ direction is the work of Director of Photography, Jack N. Green, and Production Designer, David J. Bomba. From capturing the visually captivating vastness of the rugged emptiness of the McCann spread to the fanciful tales of the exotic depicted in almost “serial” clips of the uncles’ youthful adventures, the two compliment the work of the other and capture the essence of the story. Bomba maintains ambiguity with the period, making one belief the story could happen 50 years ago or even today.
Probably two of the hardest working men in movies today, Robert Duvall and Michael Caine, head up the cast as Hub and Garth. Duvall, who is already looking at a possible Oscar nod for “Open Range” is equally as excellent in his portrayal of Hub. Giving new meaning to gruff and crotchety, Duvall goes being a man yearning for death to one full of exhilaration. Caine, on the other hand, serving almost as a narrator, exudes a kindness and gentleness that softens the film and gently tugs on the heartstrings. His rapport with Haley Joel Osment is grandfatherly and loving yet dynamic. And Haley Joel Osment as Walter…..I’ve said it before – Haley is probably one of the greatest child actors in the history of film. In this, being his first real on-screen, non-child role since seeing him in “Sixth Sense” and “A.I.”, although at an awkward stage, he has the same intensity and facial expressiveness and determination exhibited in his earlier roles. Here, the awkwardness of his own age fits well with the character of Walter and he does an admirable job of transforming Walter from insecure child into confident and kind young man.
A lovingly sweet tale. A positive tale. A tale of kindness and gentility. Does this even exist anymore? In the eyes of Tim McCanlies, it does. After seeing “Secondhand Lions” you’ll think it does. Just ask Uncle Hub, “If you want to believe something, then BELIEVE in it!”
Hub: Robert Duvall
Garth: Michael Caine
Walter: Haley Joel Osment
Written and directed by Tom McCanlies. Rated PG (109 min)
