In \Secondhand Lions,"" Walter (Haley Joel Osment), a quiet, bookwormish ""weenie,"" is forced by his absentee, lowlife mother (Kyra Sedgwick) to spend his summer living with his great-uncles, Hub (Robert Duvall) and Garth (Michael Caine), whom he has never met.
Upon his first meeting with his shotgun-toting great-uncles on their remote Texas ranch, teenager Walter is frightened by his new lot in life. He spends his days without television or using a telephone, watching Hub and Garth scare off would-be salesmen and Walter's greedy relatives, who want to cash in on the millions of dollars rumored to be in the possession of the two cranky hermits.
Between his solitary life on the ranch and uncovering the lies of his runaway mother, Walter has no sense of belonging and becomes determined to accomplish the only thing he can call his own: His dream to go to Montana. But it is at this moment his two great-uncles come around and, realizing Walter's misfortune, open their hearts and invite Walter back to the ranch with the promise of doing their best to look out for him.??
The film's male leads have garnished their share of accolades and acclaim-Caine and Duvall from their respective lifetime careers in serious (and at times comedic) roles such as ""The Cider House Rules"" and ""The Godfather,"" respectively, and Osment's performance in ""The Sixth Sense."" In this film, the three accomplish humorous and, at times, dramatic scenes. One such scene occurs between Walter and Hub after one of Hub's sleepwalking episodes, in which Hub shares part of his ""manhood speech"" with the pleading Walter. This scene is a wonderful moment for Duvall's grizzled and wise character.
Unfortunately, this film may suffer a bit with the female audience because there is no real female role aside from Walter's lying mother. But most men will be able to identify with the fun and mischief that Walter discovers on the ranch-just as long as they are able to stop acting their age and regress to the fun-filled days of watching ""The Thunder Cats,"" ""Willow"" and ""Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.\
