Secondhand Lions

Released in 2003, Second Hand Lions had almost no publicity, and was in theaters for only a couple months. This is a shame, and the same is on the viewing public. This is a very fun story, believe it or not, very well told.

And come on, look at the cast: Haley Joel Osment (Forrest Gump, Sixth Sense, and Pay it Forward to name a few good ones), Michael Caine (The Man Who Would be King, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Cider House Rules as if I could pick from all his work), and Robert Duvall (MASH, The Godfather series, and The Natural amongst his best work), bring huge amounts of talent to this story. And from the looks of it, they had way too much fun telling it too.

If that is not enough to coax you into a peek, please consider that Kyra Sedgwick and Josh Lucas lead a very strong supporting cast.

This is very much a story about another story. If you grew up with an older family member who loved telling stories which you were not sure to believe or not, this story will bring back a few memories. It may even lead you to rethink a few of your conclusions.

If you are from Texas, or know anything about folks who live there, you'll appreciate that this story is actually totally believable.

Watch it with someone who has a very good imagination.

Pay It Forward

The concept for this movie was so poignant, and so valid, so timely and timeless, that one of the major insurance companies uses it 7 years later for an ad campaign. The idea is fairly simple; take the Golden Rule, and notch is up a bit. Do something really nice for 3 people who are expected to the same. The expanding wave of good will is supposed to consume society like a tsunami.

I liked this movie more for the concept than for the acting however. Don't get me wrong, the cast is wonderful. Haley Joel Osment, Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Jim Caviezel (Mel Gibson's Jesus), Angie Dickinson, Jay Mohr, and even Jon Bon Jovi all do an acceptable job, and are believable. But, they let the story carry the weight rather than strength of performance.

It is a feel-good movie and will probably make you cry with it's slightly sappy ending. But, it's worth the watch, again or for the first time, just to get the Utopian idea into the subconscious.