Secondhand Lions
| Secondhand Lions | |
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Theatrical Release Poster
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| Directed by | Tim McCanlies |
| Produced by |
David Kirschner Scott Ross Corey Sienega |
| Written by | Tim McCanlies |
| Starring |
Haley Joel Osment Robert Duvall Michael Caine Kyra Sedgwick |
| Music by | Patrick Doyle |
| Cinematography | Jack N. Green |
| Edited by | David Moritz |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
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Release date
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Running time
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111 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box office | $76 million |
Secondhand Lions, a 2003 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tim McCanlies, tells the story of an introverted young boy (Haley Joel Osment) who is sent to live with his eccentric great-uncles (Robert Duvall and Michael Caine) on a farm in Texas.
The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and the general public, and grossed $74 million on a $30 million budget.
The film has now generated a cult following.
14-year-old Walter (Haley Joel Osment) is left by his irresponsible mother, Mae (Kyra Sedgwick), to live for the summer with his reclusive, bachelor great-uncles, Hub (Robert Duvall) and Garth (Michael Caine). Despite living in a ramshackle Texan farm, they are said to have a secret fortune and are made the target of every travelling salesman. They in their turn sit on the porch with shotguns, making the salesmen their targets.
Walter is given a room in the attic and is not welcomed at first, until they realise he annoys other gold-digging relatives who visit with their children. For his part, Walter persuades his uncles to try spending some of their money on a clay pigeon-shooting machine from a traveling salesman. Later on, Walter and his uncles plant a garden but realize all the seeds they planted were corn. When Hub and Garth buy a lion from a zoo company, they expect to shoot the lion and hang it in their home. They then find out the lion delivered to them is a tame circus lioness, whom they allow Walter to keep as a pet. Later the lioness is released by accident and takes to the cornfield, which becomes her new "jungle" home. While loading 50-pound bags of Lion Chow, Hub passes out and is taken to hospital. On leaving, they encounter four Greasers at a road side store who draw flick knives on Hub but are easily beaten by him in a fight.
A subplot develops around the photograph of a beautiful woman that Walter finds in a trunk in the attic. In a series of flashbacks, Garth tells Walter the story of their African past, during which Hub fell in love with an Arab princess named Jasmine (after whom Walter names the lioness when he finds out she is a female lion, not a male, as he and his uncles assumed), who was promised to a powerful Sheik. When they married, the Sheik put a price on Hub's head, keeping them in constant peril from assassins. Finally Hub won a duel against the Sheik but spared his life, warning him to cease the manhunt. When Walter asks to hear more from Hub, his uncle reveals that Jasmine and their child died in childbirth. Hub then returned to the French Foreign Legion, until he retired with Garth to their farm, where they are resignedly waiting to die. Walter asks Hub for confirmation, since his mother always lies to him. Hub responds with a piece of his "What Every Boy Needs to Know ..." speech, that the actual truth is not as important as belief in ideals. Walter then asks Hub to promise to be around to give him the rest of the speech when he's old enough and Hub grudgingly agrees.
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