Secondhand Lions

Set in the nostalgia-drenched 1960s, writer/director Tim McCanlies' Secondhand Lions is about the warm relationship that develops between a lonely 14-year-old boy and the two irascible, reclusive old granduncles with whom his flighty mother deposits him for the summer. Over the course of his stay, the lad attempts to discover the secret of the crotchety brothers' mysterious past, which--it turns out--may have included a series of Arabian Nights-style adventures in North Africa, a beautiful princess, a dastardly sheik, and a great horde of treasure. Haley Joel Osment is charmingly dour as young Walter, and Robert Duvall and Michael Caine are absolute joys to watch as his eccentric hosts. A crowd-pleaser, much of what happens in this manipulative movie is ostentatiously quirky, and the sentimentality quotient goes off the charts, but it would take more of a curmudgeon than the two uncles to scowl at this film and mean it. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Tim McCanlies, 10 deleted/alternate scenes with optional commentary including an original ending (1-9 min. each), the 26-minute featurette “One Screenplay's Wild Ride in Hollywood,” the behind-the-scenes featurette “On the Set with Secondhand Lions” (26 min.), the 12-minute featurette “Haley Joel Osment: An Actor Comes of Age,” two visual effects comparison sequences, TV spots, Easter eggs, and trailers. Bottom line: a generous extras package for a goodhearted if overindulgent film.] (F. Swietek)