Secondhand Lions is a wonderful coming-of-age story about a shy and sad 14-year-old boy whose stunted spirit soars during a summer stay with his two eccentric uncles. It stars Haley Joel Osment, Michael Caine, and Robert Duvall. Set in Texas during the 1960s, the movie was written and directed by Tim McCanlies (Dancer, Texas, Pop. 81), who also wrote the screenplay for Iron Giant. To read an interview with McCanlies about the film, click here. Show This family film has plenty to teach us about choosing what is truest about ourselves, dealing with the originals in our lives, learning from animals, listening to stories as good medicine, finding a code for living, keeping the green growing edge, and mentoring. The film runs 109 minutes and is rated PG for thematic material, language, and action violence. For our review of the film and a plot synopsis, click here.) 1. Choosing What Is Truest About Ourselves "Choosing what is truest about ourselves is a holy act," Ted Loder writes in The Haunt of Grace. "It comes close to what loving ourselves is all about. It is what grace enables, what mystery touches."
2. Those Originals in Our Lives In an essay about an eccentric person in Once More Around the Block, Joseph Epstein writes: "To be with him was almost always to be reminded of life's larger possibilities, which is the service performed by people who are original for the rest of us."
3. Learning from Animals "I don't think that I can learn from a wild animal how to live in particular — shall I suck warm blood, holding my tail high? . . . But I might learn something of mindlessness, something of the purity of living in the physical senses and the dignity of living without bias or motive," nature writer Annie Dillard once observed.
4. Stories That Are Good Medicine "Stories are medicine . . . They have such power, they do not require that we do anything — we only need listen . . . Stories are embedded with instructions which guide us about the complexities of life," Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes in Women Who Run With the Wolves.
5. A Code for Living In the movie, Hub gives Walter the speech he thinks all young men should hear: "If you want to believe in something, believe it. Just because something isn't true, that's no reason you can't believe in it . . . Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in most: That people are basically good. That honor, virtue and courage mean everything. That money and power mean nothing. That good always triumphs over evil. That true love never dies."
6. Keep That Green Growing Edge In Learning to Fly Sam Keen quotes theologian and contemporary mystic Howard Thurman on conscious aging: "The hard thing when you get old is to keep your horizons open. The first part of your life everything is in front of you, all your potential and promise. But over the years, you make decisions, your carve yourself into a given shape. Then the challenge is to discover the green growing edge."
7. Downloading the Best of Yourself "There's so much we've learned, so much we want to save before death pulls the plug. Mentoring gives us a way to 'download' and preserve the best of who we are," Drew Leder writes in Spiritual Passages.
This guide is one in a series of more than 200 Values & Visions Guides written by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Text copyright 2003 by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Photos courtesy of New Line Pictures. This guide is posted as a service to visitors to www.SpiritualityandPractice.com. It may not be photocopied, reprinted, or distributed electronically without permission from Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. For this permission and for a list of other guides in the Values & Visions series and ordering information, email your name and mailing address to: [email protected]. Where did the money come from in Secondhand Lions?The Worst Films of 2022
But soon enough, Walter (in the absence of a television set) becomes fascinated by the pair. Hub and Garth's vast fortune is alternately rumored to come from bank robberies, Mafia funds stolen from Al Capone or, according to the uncles themselves, gold tricked from an evil sheik.
Did they use a real lion in Secondhand Lions?The lion in the movie was a mixture of reality and puppetry.
What is the lesson in Secondhand Lions?I think this is a great tween movie. It gives families things to talk about. The lion was the main focus for our kids and the young boys connection to it. It's a life lesson movie, that teaches that not all families are a mom, dad and kids, and that there's more to a person than what you see on the outside.
What happens at the end of Secondhand Lions?Climactic Moment: Walter returns to his uncles on the farm and lays down “conditions” to make sure they stay alive long enough to raise him. Resolution: Twenty years later, Walter's uncles die when they crash the bi-plane.
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