This is a coming-of-age story of a boy who is brought up by his freewheeling grand-uncles on a farm, while his mother goes about husband hunting. The USP of the film is that fantasy is narrated and not lived on screen and it shows two free spirits, who, while trying to live a life without responsibility, manage to teach the boy how to deal with life when he grows into a man. However, the characters don't endear themselves, which is a vital ingredient gone missing.
The story revolves around young Walter Coleman as he is dropped off at his grand-uncles’ farm by his mother. The hidden objective is to get her hands on the vast fortune that they are supposed to have amassed through a life of thievery. As Walter spends time with them, they regale him with stories of their adventures during WW I, their love life and their duel with a rich Sheik for the hand of the lady love. They are however silent about their fortune, but spend large amounts of money buying planes and even an old lioness from a circus. In time, Walter’s mother arrives and tries to confront them on their money. Have they really lived a life of adventure and whether all that money does exist is what the film tries to answer.
Tim McCanlies’ writing and direction doesn’t really break your heart. In movies of this genre, there are a couple of characters that stay with you post the movie, but nothing in this film proves to be that endearing. Where he scores is in creating this parallel world in the past when the elders are narrating the story to young Walter. He creates intrigue in the minds of the viewer about the reality of this world, which seems a far cry from the environment in which they live today.
Acting legends Robert Duvall and Michael Caine fail to ignite the screen and come across as poor shadows of themselves. Haley Joel Osment as Walter Coleman is passable in a role that doesn’t really break your heart.
‘Secondhand Lions’ was meant to be a feel-good movie, but barring a few moments, does not do justice to a genre that needs to pull at the heart-strings in order to work.
