Secondhand Lions (2003)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Dead A

  
  The starting looked like it was going to be hella boring but surprisingly, it wasn't. It was one of those movies that gets interesting in every minute. Really good movie. Recommend everyone to watch.

• Jennifer X

  
  Secondhand Lions tries too hard to appeal to a family friendly crowd, and because of it it loses much of its bite. But when it lets go of its reins it can really turn into something magical.

• Jason L

  
  Although it might strike some viewers as bland, it is actually a beautiful, clever movie with a strong story line.

• Flutie A

  
  Better than expected. Haley Joel Osment is a little goofy at times, but some of the moments with Michael Caine and Robert Duvall are pretty funny.

• KJ P

  
  Has a lot of stuff going for it! And for the most part, it fulfills almost all of them!

• Anthony L

  
  Had some good moments but it was just too schmaltzy for me. Haley Joel Osment was awful and really brought the film down a level. Shame, could have been much better!

• Chris W

  
  Great performances highlight this extremely heartfelt, sweet, funny, and entertaining film that radiates nothing but charm.

• Arash X

  
  "Hey, you in the crate.Get your lion butt out of there."

• Leigh R

  
  Cute movie with a lot of heart.

• Mike S

  
  Like so many other once-promising child actors, Haley Joel Osment seems to have waned a bit in his acting skills with time. His performance here in the lead role was okay, but I highly doubt he'll ever starr in any major productions from here on, which is sad of course, but not… More
  Like so many other once-promising child actors, Haley Joel Osment seems to have waned a bit in his acting skills with time. His performance here in the lead role was okay, but I highly doubt he'll ever starr in any major productions from here on, which is sad of course, but not all too surprising. As for the story, I can't really say it was all that great. I'm willing to overlook that fact, however, as the actors did a good job for the most part. Especially Michael Caine, who never fails to earn his paycheck, regardless of role and whatever significance the movie may have or not. His presence alone saved this film from the pit of prosaicness and instead moved it up a notch to the level of an average, yet worthwhile family film. Just beware that it has a somewhat corny sense of humor.

• Cassie H

  
  Wonderful

• Al S

  
  A great and wonderful movie. Heartfelt and very funny. Robert Duvall and Michael Caine give strong and marvelous performances. aley Joel Osment is teriffic. An awsome comic adventure and family drama. One truly magnificent gem of a movie.

• Curtis L

  
  Okay.

• Lafe F

  
  A movie for guys. Haley Joel Osment is dumped at his crusty uncles' farm by his loser mother. The uncles (Michael Caine and Robert Duvall) tell a lot of tall tales, which young Haley finds hard to believe. But through the summer, he learns a lot from them, and takes some big… More
  A movie for guys. Haley Joel Osment is dumped at his crusty uncles' farm by his loser mother. The uncles (Michael Caine and Robert Duvall) tell a lot of tall tales, which young Haley finds hard to believe. But through the summer, he learns a lot from them, and takes some big steps toward growing up. A touching movie.

• Jose Z

  
  When I rented this movie two days ago I thought that it was gonna be another clumsy and boring movie about farma animal and a boy, but I said what the heck lets give it a try, and I notive that I was so mistaken. This is such and emotional and touching film, so funny and… More
  When I rented this movie two days ago I thought that it was gonna be another clumsy and boring movie about farma animal and a boy, but I said what the heck lets give it a try, and I notive that I was so mistaken. This is such and emotional and touching film, so funny and entertaining, with very good action and adventure. A very nice option to spend a very good time with the family cause it has some messages like you dont have to judge a book by its cover until you discover what's inside, that the home is where the heart is and there's never to old to live your life to the fullest. Its like Tim Burton's Big Fish but more oriented to kids. The story is very interesting and the plot is incredible and convincing. The cast is simply incredible, to watch Michael Caine and Robert Duvall acting together is a real joy, they really deliver us a pair of flawless performances, Haley Joel Osment acting was really good too in a role that fitted him really well, first as a nervious and kind of geek boy that learns how to have a good and fully life with his uncles. Nice CG effects to recreat the Europe of the 30's. Also very good soundtrack, its just like country type music full of rythm and very cheerful. The landscapes are beautiful, full of color. In conclusion this was a very enjoyable movie for all kind of people.

• Dean L

  
  This is one of those movies that I thought was going to be terribly hokey and the only thing I was going to take away from it was perhaps some enjoyment from watching Michael Caine and Robert Duvall give performances. BOY WAS I WRONG. This movie was enjoyable through and through. The… More
  This is one of those movies that I thought was going to be terribly hokey and the only thing I was going to take away from it was perhaps some enjoyment from watching Michael Caine and Robert Duvall give performances. BOY WAS I WRONG. This movie was enjoyable through and through. The characters were well formed. You really felt their presence throughout the film. Duvall and Caine were, of course, superlative in their roles and made you wish that you had Uncles just like them. This movie has heart and a lot of it. It is also a nod to the power of old-fashioned storytelling as one is woven through the film (much like the wonderful movie "Big Fish" it is up to the viewer to decide what is true in the storytelling though note these two movies are nothing alike save for the nod to the art of storytelling). There is a speech that Duvall's character gives that "every young man should hear." The words that he imparts upon Walter (Haley Joel Osment) alone make the movie worth watching. There was a part towards the end that I also felt should have ended up on the cutting room floor [as another viewer mentioned], but it in no way kills the film. Bring the kids, snuggle up and enjoy...you have found a movie for the whole family and it will leave you feeling just right and then some.

• Steve K

  
  I didn't buy it at all. A lesser version of Big Fish.

• Nate Z

  
  [center][font=Arial][color=darkred][img]http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/6977/photo047ps.jpg[/img][/color][/font][/center] [font=Arial][color=darkred][/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Walter (Haley Joel Osment) is being shipped off by his absent-minded mother (Kyra… More
  [center][font=Arial][color=darkred][img]http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/6977/photo047ps.jpg[/img][/color][/font][/center] [font=Arial][color=darkred][/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Walter (Haley Joel Osment) is being shipped off by his absent-minded mother (Kyra Sedgwick) to spend the summer with his two great uncles (Michael Caine and Robert Duvall). His mother is secretly hoping that Walter will cozy up to his eccentric relatives because of rumors that they have stockpiled millions of dollars. She sends Walter off with a mission to find the location of that money. Walter is a weenie, and Caine and Duvall are man’s men that can still show them cocksure youngins a thing or two. The summer passes and Walter learns more than he could have ever known about his uncles and their supposedly amazing lives.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Caine and Duvall, two of the best actors we have, are wasted with material that pushes them into grizzled ole’ curmudgeons that inevitably soften up. Duvall plays the same rough and tumble character he plays in so many better movies, and Caine just seems like he’s bored. Osment loses some cuteness as he hits puberty. He still has the face of a teddy bear (really look sometime) but I’m sure he’ll rebound and it’ll only be a matter of time before he’s dating Hilary Duff or one of the Olsen twins. Wow, this is weird for me to write about.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The film feels like it’s in the hands of a novice with no confidence. The director (whose only other experience was a film called, [i]Dancer, [/i][i]Texas[/i][i] Pop. 81[/i]) doesn’t seem to know of anything reaching subtlety. The storyline with Osment’s flighty mother is just painful to watch. She’s an embarrassment of a character. Scenes are awkwardly framed and there are way too many “fun” montages of Caine and Duvall shooting things endlessly. I don’t know about your movie lore, but when I see old men firing at people from their porch, this doesn’t register as “crazy yet lovable old timer” but only as “crazy.” The entire lion subplot is just stupid and out there. The film even gets worse as it spins into a fantastical epilogue that stretches the bounds of reality. You’ll know it when the helicopter touches down.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Some elements of [i]Secondhand Lions[/i] work despite themselves. There’s an ongoing subplot where Caine spins a great yarn about him and Duvall’s adventures as young men in the French Foreign Legion. We cut to some B-movie inserts that provide some fun, despite a preponderance of sword swinging violence that may question the “family” label people are too freely applying to [i]Secondhand Lions[/i]. Watching this tall tale was far more entertaining than the reality [i]Secondhand Lions[/i] was trying to dish. I kept wanting the film to somehow invert, and then this film would be the B-movie adventures where some person is telling a story about a whiny kid who gets an old lion and learns a thing or two about life and being a man from his two crazy uncles. Do you see what I’m getting at.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred][i]Secondhand Lions[/i] is an overly sentimental Hallmark card of a movie. I don’t think I’ve yawned this much during a movie in a long time. [i]Secondhand Lions[/i] is an uninspired trick pony trying to appear like a wise coming of age nostalgic tale. Instead, the entire film feels secondhand. Beware, contents may have shifted upon delivery. Mark this box return to sender. Okay, I’m done with the postal puns. I need a beer.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: C[/color][/font]

• Mark A

  
  Great story of a young man who spends a summer with his two great uncles and grows up in the process. Walter (Haley Joel Osmet) gets dropped off at an isolated farm in Texas by his single mother, Mae (Kyra Sedgewick). Terrific performances by Robert Duvall and Michael Caine as the… More
  Great story of a young man who spends a summer with his two great uncles and grows up in the process. Walter (Haley Joel Osmet) gets dropped off at an isolated farm in Texas by his single mother, Mae (Kyra Sedgewick). Terrific performances by Robert Duvall and Michael Caine as the uncles. Through the telling of a wacky tale about the French foreign legion, a beautiful princess, and an evil sultan, Walter learns about these two old codgers and their earlier lives. Interesting to watch these two old bachelors warm to the idea of having a boy around and to watch the bonds develop. The story was a bit over the top phantasmagorical, but it certainly made things interesting. A little bit like "Big Fish", but without the father/son thing going on.

• Todd S

  
  Robert Duvall and Michael Caine are Hollywood legends, who prove their reputation in Secondhand Lions. It's kind of a hokie story that really only works because of its extremely talented cast. Walter is sent to spend the summer with two bizarre and distant relatives, who… More
  Robert Duvall and Michael Caine are Hollywood legends, who prove their reputation in Secondhand Lions. It's kind of a hokie story that really only works because of its extremely talented cast. Walter is sent to spend the summer with two bizarre and distant relatives, who mysteriously left forty years earlier to travel the world, and whom returned just as mysteriously. Like I said, the story is a bit weird, but it's extremely entertaining. The whole cast is terrific and the film is much more than what it appears to be on the outside. It's about living your life to the fullest and believing in whatever it is that makes you happy. It's a story everyone can relate to, with a cast I can't say enough about.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings