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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION |
| This page was created on September 8, 2003
This page was last updated on
September 16, 2003
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| ABOUT THIS FILM |
For 14-year old Walter (Haley Joel Osment), his great uncles' farm in rural Texas is the last place on earth he wants to spend the Summer. Dumped off by his mother, Mae (Kyra Sedgwick), in the middle of nowhere with two crazy old men and the promise that she'll come back for him, Walter doesn't know what to believe in.
Eccentric and gruff, Hub and Garth McCaan (Robert Duvall and Michael Caine) are rumored to have been bank robbers, mafia hitmen and/or war criminals in their younger days. The truth is elusive, although they do seem to have an endless supply of cash. But Walter begins to see a new side to his great uncles when he stumbles on an old photograph of a beautiful woman hidden away in a trunk and asks Garth who she is.
Little by little, through stories spun against the backdrop of the dusty Texas night, an amazing story comes to life via Walter's vivid, colorful imaginings - a tale set in a long-ago exotic, mysterious place where men rode stallions and fought with swords; where beautiful princesses tangled with treacherous sheiks; and where the two unlikely heroes lived an adventure most people only dream of.
Whether true or not, the uncles' tales become a doorway to a staggering new world for the boy to live out their adventures. They also give Walter something true to believe in - a world where honor and valor mean more than money and power, and a place that, real or not, belongs only to him. Likewise, in telling their stories to their nephew, Hub and Garth begin to see their own lives with new eyes.
Over one unpredictable Central Texas summer in the early 1960's, everything in the lives of this new family of strangers is about to change forever.
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| ABOUT THE PRODUCTION |
Like many writers and their work, Tim McCanlies admits a great deal of the characters who appear in Secondhand Lions emerged from his own past. "As a kid I spent a lot of summers with my grandfather, who was a crusty character much like the uncles in the movie," he reflects. "But while my grandfather was tough, there was a real tender side that was buried under so many layers. He loomed large to me as a kid. And growing up with a good, strong male figure in their lives is what could make the difference in how a child grows up. I tried to figure out what it is that men teach boys and deal with that a little bit in the film."
Secondhand Lions follows the comedic adventures of an introverted boy named Walter (Haley Joel Osment) whose mother, Mae (Kyra Sedgwick), dumps him off, in the midst of a young life marked by broken promises, to spend the summer with his cranky, eccentric great uncles.
Two of cinema's most acclaimed actors, Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, play Garth and Hub McCann, the great uncles unexpectedly given a boy to watch over during one long Texas summer in the 1960's. Tim McCanlies describes Hub, played by Duvall, as one of those old people whose earlier exploits in life might surprise us. "Once that part of Hub's life was over, he came back to the house where he and his brother had grown up and was prepared to sit down and die. Garth, played by Michael Caine, has come back as well to look after his older brother. He doesn't really have anything else in his life right now."
For Hub, growing old is an uncomfortable proposition. "It's not that he's getting old; it bothers him because he's becoming useless," says Robert Duvall, adding that the uncles "feel useless, but they would like to be not useless. They would like to find other things. They talk about death and being old, but yet they try to stay active. Garth has these salesmen come out to supposedly sell them things, and they shoot at them with shotguns. Not to kill them, but to scare them off. That's the sport of the salesmen, to break the boredom of the day."
At first unnerved by his uncles' gruff, uncaring manner, Walter gradually begins to fit in with their lives, helping them tend a garden and care for their five mangy dogs and one pig, and eventually encouraging them to start spending some of the millions they're rumored to have stashed away before it's too late. Unfortunately, they're not smart shoppers and when they use some of their money to buy a lion to hunt, it turns out to be "secondhand" - tired, sick and useless.
Walter sees something in the lion nobody else does -- just as he sees more in his uncles than their money. When he stumbles upon an old photograph of a beautiful woman, Walter becomes fascinated by who his uncles were - rumored to be bank robbers, mafia hitmen or Nazi war criminals, their past becomes a mystery for Walter to unravel.
Walter grills his uncle Garth about the woman in the picture and learns that her name was Jasmine and she was a princess that Hub met and fell in love with while the brothers served in the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. "Laced throughout the film are remembrances of the uncles as they were much younger, told to Walter and seen through his imagination," explains producer Corey Sienega. "These adventure sequences are seen in the style of old serials, films like The Thief of Baghdad with the pace of Indiana Jones. They are stories of great adventurers. Walter's not an adventurer, but the uncles' tales help bring that out in him."
Michael Caine describes Garth McCann as "someone who's always talking. He's always telling Walter the story of Hub's life, and Walter doesn't know if he's lying or not. But the boy has his own imagination. He sees and he learns."
Haley Joel Osment concurs, adding "Walter is one of those people who are observers. All his life he's never had the confidence to do anything. The experience of spending the summer with his great-uncles changes his life and he really becomes a man, someone with conviction".
The love story of Hub and Jasmine comes to mean a lot more to Walter than anyone realizes and he becomes enthralled as their exotic tales and remembrances stir the boy's spirit. "They're very tall tales," says Tim McCanlies. "Arabian Nights sort of tales, which is how Walter sees them as he imagines them in his head. They're like a kid would imagine them, informed by comic books and films of the '40s and '50s. But these sequences also represent some of the lessons that the uncles are trying to teach Walt - what it is that a man does and how a man comforts himself."
Walter has been told a lot of lies by his mother and comes to his uncles not knowing what to believe. Hub tells him that just because something isn't true, there's no reason you shouldn't believe in it. "In Hub's logic," according to Robert Duvall, "things that people consider true are not the best things in life. Money and power don't mean anything, and courage and honor and virtue mean everything. Not to mimic the actions of others, but to hold oneself to a higher standard. And that things that may or may not be true are things you need to believe in the most."
Even after Hub beats the daylights out of some young hoodlums who taunt him, "he takes these young men home, feeds them steak, patches them up and then gives them this speech about becoming a man," says Duvall. "Then, he sends them on their way."
Michael Caine notes that after 40 years in the same old place, Hub and Garth have convinced themselves that they're useless, but just as they give Walter something to believe in, so too does he give them a form of hope. "The picture is about these two old men who've come back to die in Texas," says Caine. "Yet they do these incredible things for the boy. They change him, and he changes them, convincing them that they actually still have some use. That's what's great about the story."
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| ABOUT THE CAST |
Michael Caine (Garth McCann) 2000 was a momentous year for Michael Caine. Not only did he receive his second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film The Cider House Rules, but also Queen Elizabeth II honored the legendary actor as a Knight Bachelor, bestowing upon him the title of Sir Michael Caine.
His versatility as a major international star can be seen in over 80 motion pictures. His work has earned him numerous accolades including two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for Hannah and her Sisters and The Cider House Rules; the New York Critics' Best Actor Award for Alfie; a Golden Globe Award and a British Academy Award for Educating Rita; two Golden Globe Awards for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Little Voice; as well as four Academy Award nominations for Alfie, Sleuth, Educating Rita and The Quiet American.
Some of his most recent films are Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Quiet American, Last Orders, Miss Congeniality, Quills and Get Carter. Other movies that illustrate his unique talent and range are The Muppets Christmas Carol, Noises Off, Mr. Destiny, The Fourth Protocol, Mona Lisa, Half Moon Street, Deathtrap, Dressed to Kill, California Suite, A Bridge Too Far, The Eagle Has Landed, The Man Who Would Be King, Pulp, Funeral in Berlin and Gambit, to name but a few.
Caine was born in South London. During childhood he developed a fascination for the cinema and an insatiable hunger for novels. He performed in school plays and even directed dramas in a youth club. After leaving school at 16 and a stint in Korea, he landed his first job in the theatre as an assistant stage manager. All the while he studied acting. After several years in repertory theatre and in small parts on television, Caine landed an understudy role to Peter O'Toole as Private Bamforth in the London Stage hit, "The Long, The Short and The Tall." When O'Toole dropped out of the play, Caine took over the part and toured the country for six months, after which, his roles in television and film grew substantially.
The turning point in his career came in 1963 when he won the role of Lt. Gonville Bromhead in Joseph E. Levine's production, Zulu. His supporting role stole the show for critics and audiences alike. Next he played Harry Palmer in the sleeper hit, The Ipcress File. By 1966 Alfie catapulted him to super-stardom with the British film critics voting the movie Best Picture of the Year, Caine's Oscar nomination and his Award from the New York Film Critics.
In 1986 he returned to television for the first time in over 20 years to star in the four-hour miniseries "Jack the Ripper" which, in Britain, received the highest ratings ever for a drama.
With his partner, producer Martin Bregman, he formed M&M Productions in order to make films in Britain in which Caine could star or direct if he chose. Their first production released in 1992 was Blue Ice, costarring Sean Young and directed by Russell Mulcahy.
Michael Caine's autobiography, What's It All About? Was published by Turtle Bay Books in November 1992.
He recently completed filming in Ireland Neil Jordan's The Actors, directed by Conor McPherson. He also recently completed filming The Statement which was directed by Norman Jewison and made in France.
Robert Duvall (Hub McCann) Robert Duvall has starred in some of America's most acclaimed films: The Godfather, which earned him an Oscar nomination, and The Godfather, Part II; he was nominated a second time for an Oscar for his performance in Apocalypse Now; he was nominated a third time for The Great Santini, and won an Academy Award as Best Actor for Tender Mercies.
Duvall wrote, directed and starred in The Apostle, receiving an Academy Award nomination for the title character. He co-starred in Deep Impact and A Civil Action, which won him his sixth Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination. He followed this with Gone in 60 Seconds. He recently completed A Shot at Glory and The Sixth Day.
Duvall honed his craft in such 60's and 70's classics as Bullitt, True Grit, M*A*S*H, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, The Eagle Has Landed, The Greatest and The Betsy. The 80's saw him in The Stone Boy, The Natural, The Lightship, Let's Get Harry and Colors as well as the popular mini-series Lonesome Dove. During the 90's, Duvall starred in Days of Thunder, A Handmaid's Tale, A Show of Force, Convicts, Rambling Rose, Falling Down, Geronimo and Wrestling Ernest Hemingway.
Duvall formed Butcher's Run Films in 1992, starring in A Family Thing, which earned a Humanitas Award, followed by The Man Who Captured Eichmann. In the last few years, Duvall has been seen in The Paper, The Stars Fell on Henrietta and The Scarlet Letter.
Duvall's most recent credits include Gods & Generals, the prequel to Gettysburg, in which he stars as General Robert E. Lee; and John Q.. He also directed, wrote, produced and starred in the acclaimed Assassination Tango. He will next be seen in Kevin Costner's Open Range.
Haley Joel Osment (Walter) Haley Joel Osment's young, yet expansive career, continues to find new height's following his starring role in director Steven Spielberg's A.I., traveling to Poland to shoot Edges of the Lord, playing a Jewish boy sent into the countryside to hide with a Catholic family during Nazi occupation; and co-starring with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt in the adaptation of Catherine Ryan Hyde's novel Pay It Forward -- all of this completed within the same year.
Osment made an unforgettable impression on movie-goers with his devastating portrayal of the haunted Cole Sear in the record breaking and internationally acclaimed film The Sixth Sense, in which he co-starred with Bruce Willis and Toni Colette for director M. Night Shymalan. For his performance, Osment was nominated for an Academy Award at age 11. He also received numerous film critics' awards as well as nominations for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
An award-winning actor who began his television and film career at age 5, Osment won his first honor, the youth in Film Award, for his role as Forrest, Jr. in the Oscar-winning feature film, Forrest Gump.
The young actor's feature film credits also include Nora Ephron's Mixed Nuts, Jason Alexander's directorial debut For Better or Worse, and Norman Jewison's Bogus in which he starred opposite Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg and Gerard Depardieu.
In the voice-over arena, Osment is heard as Chip in Walt Disney's animated release Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, as Zephyr in The Hunchback of Notre Dame Deux, and as Beary in The Country Bears. His latest animation honor was voicing Mowgli in Disney's The Jungle Book 2.
He made his acting debut starring opposite multi-Emmy winner Edward Asner in the television series "Thunder Alley." He went on to co-star as Matt Foxworthy on "The Jeff Foxworthy Show," and then appeared as Avery Brown on the long-running series "Murphy Brown."
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| ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS |
Tim McCanlies (Writer/Director) Fifth-generation Texan Tim McCanlies began his career writing, performing and directing live theatre. While working on his MFA in the Graduate Cinema program at SMU, he completed several shorts including "Nicole et Claude," which tied for first place at USC's Student Film Awards and was sold to cable. After relocating to Los Angeles, McCanlies signed a deal at the Walt Disney studios and, in 1987, his screenplay, North Shore, was filmed for Universal (on which he also received Associate Producer credit).
In 1998, he made his feature film directorial debut on his script, Dancer, Texas Pop. 81. The film met with acclaim, played continuously for seven months in his home state and premiered internationally at the prestigious London Film Festival.
His screenplay for the critically lauded 1999 animated film The Iron Giant earned McCanlies and director Brad Bird an Annie, BAFTA Children's Award and a Nebula Award.
McCanlies' additional projects include screenplays for the live-action The Night We Liberated Paris and Walden Media's Around the World in 80 Days starring Jackie Chan. His additional feature film screenwriting credits include Dennis the Menace Strikes Again.
Jack N. Green, ASC (Director of Photography) Jack N. Green was nominated by the American Cinematographers Society for Outstanding Achievement for his work on The Bridges of Madison County, and was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award, and won the Boston Film Critics award for Unforgiven. Green also received The Society of Operating Cameramen Lifetime Achievement Award.
Some of Green's additional feature film credits include Girl Interrupted, Twister, The Net and Space Cowboys.
David Moritz (Editor) David Moritz was the film editor for Wes Anderson's critically acclaimed films Bottle Rocket and Rushmore. His most recent credits include the comedy A Guy Thing, The Affair of the Necklace and the New Line Cinema's Knockaround Guys.
Other credits include Town & Country, The Evening Star and the award winning independent feature Broken Vessels. He was a co-editor on Jerry Maguire and an associate editor on James L. Brooks' I'll Do Anything.
In his next feature, he will be teaming up with Wes Anderson again for The Life Aquatic.
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