Secondhand Lions (2003)

This is a surprisingly good movie. It is simple, sparse on words, and with flashbacks that only go one level deep. It is not as sparse on dialogs as the adorable "Lost in Translation (2003)" nor as deep in flashbacks as the boring "Confidence (2003)". For the record, I just love dialogs' free films, and hate dense flashbacks. So, this is a balanced motion picture.

Director Tim McCanlies, from Smallville (2001) series' fame, brings together Michael Caine, Robert Duvall and Haley Osment. An unexpected mix!
People should remember young Haley Osment from Spielberg's A.I..
As for Duvall, with nearly 100 titles on his filmography, I chose "Apocalypse Now" and "Rambling Rose" as some of his most memorable moments.
Michael Caine is a filmography recordist, with well over 110 movies under his belt. Do you remember the original versions of "Get Carter" and "The Italian Job"?

In "Secondhand Lions", Duvall is Hub, Caine is Garth and Osment is Walter.
One fine Summer day, Walter's mother decides she needs freedom and money, so she leaves her son with his old uncles from Texas. The uncles are supposedly rich and Walter has clear instructions to find where they keep the money. But is it money from the Mafia, from bank robberies or from the (nearly) unbeliavable Sheik adventure Garth keeps narrating?

Walter loses confidence on his mother but sticks to the belief that his uncles' Sheik adventure is real. Only on the very last minutes of the film you'll know the truth.

This is a comedy. One bright spot - the one that explain the movie's title - is an (old) lion the uncles buy, in order to do a safari on the farm. Fortunately, Walter convinces them not to kill the animal.
One day the feline gets released, by accident, from its enclosure and rediscovers the jungle on the farm's cornfield! Can you imagine what happens next? I couldn't.

This is an enjoyable movie. It is no landmark, but it is different, has a message and will make you laugh.

You can buy this and/or related products here.

for european costumers:

title: Secondhand Lions (2003)
price: £14.99
url: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000189KMA/arturmarques
ASIN: B000189KMA
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for american costumers:

title: Secondhand Lions - DVD - New Line Platinum Series (2003)
price: $19.57 (USD)
url: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000YTP02/arturmarquesc-20
ASIN: B0000YTP02
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for real time monetary conversions, please use the XE service.