Without a doubt this would have to be one of the best family movies I have ever seen! Walter (played by Haley Joel Osment) is a 14-year-old boy, his mother is a loser who goes from one failed relationship to another and Walter is usually caught in the fall out. Walter?s mother Mae (played by Kyra Sedgwick) has two wealthy old uncles who are bachelors with very few relatives. In a plan to get some money from them, she dumps Walter with them for a few weeks and tells Walter to look everywhere for the cash.

Walters?s two uncles Hub (played by Michael Cain) and Garth (played by Robert Duval) are left to mind Walter. They have no TV, no telephone and are not the most welcoming people. Firing their rifles at salesmen who call in to try their luck selling the two men anything and everything on offer usually fills Hub and Garth?s days. One day Walter suggests the pair should see what the sales man is selling and they are surprised to see he is selling a clay target shooter. The two men buy it on the spot and from that point on things change. The two uncles even buy and old lion but when she arrives and is sick the two brothers allow Walter to look after the Lion.

The two brothers went off to Europe to travel when they were 19 and were missing for over 40 years when they returned they were wealthy so mystery surrounds the two bothers. All the local people speculate how the two men made their money. Walter asks Garth to tell him everything, so over the next few weeks, Garth tells the story of the travels the two brothers had.

Walters head is filled with tales of exotic people and places and Walter is intrigued by the story but is not sure if it is true or not. Walter?s uncles teach Walter to embrace life, never be afraid and to try new things. Walter is genuinely happy for the first time in his life. Then Walter?s mother turns up with a new boyfriend and wants to know if Walter has found the uncles money, Walter has to make a choice between his lying no good mother, who always lets him down, and his uncles who love him like a son.

This is a great story and has heaps of twists and turns, I really enjoyed the whole movie and the setting and cast were fantastic. This story has everything; bank robbers, corrupt cops, wealthy sheiks, kidnapped princesses, wild animals and more! Michael Caine and Robert Duvall are absolutely brilliant, the performances as the two uncles are arguably some of their best work. Haley Joel Osment plays a great part as a young Walter and at times he steals the show. The setting on a country farm in the USA is fab! Complete with a rambling run down house and a field of Corn. This is a great adventure movie and one not to be missed. I watched this with my four kids and my two boys aged 5 and 9, they were spell bound. This is a family movie and whilst rated PG there was very little hat needed an explanation for my kids.

Perfect for a family home collection this is a DVD that your kids will thank you for and it will provide a great night in, over and over again. The sound quality was crisp and pristine - I have surround sound and the sounds coming from this DVD were unreal! The lion roaring all around my lounge room was so cool! Picture clarity was of the usual high standard of DVD?s ? who could go back to video now??? If you are looking for a good quality ?Warm & Fuzzy? movie to own then this would be a good choice.

THE EXTRAS

Wow a feast of bonus features too ? this just keeps getting better. The bonus features are all pretty standard stuff but well worth

a look if you own the DVD.

The usual ho hum of an audio commentary ? not my cup of tea but pretty standard stuff!

A few deleted scenes ? watch these they make a lot of sense after watching the movie.

A quick flick on the characters and places of Second Hand Lions - in a making of style of Documentary.

On the set with Walter ? Haley Joel Osment ? quick interview and a look at his work interesting stuff nothing earth shattering.

Theatrical trailer- a big fat add for this fantastic movie!

CONCLUSION

Without a doubt this would have to be one of the best family movies I have ever seen! Walter (played by Haley Joel Osment) is a 14-year-old boy, his mother is a loser who goes from one failed relationship to another and Walter is usually caught in the fall out. Walter?s mother Mae (played by Kyra Sedgwick) has two wealthy old uncles who are bachelors with very few relatives. In a plan to get some money from them, she dumps Walter with them for a few weeks and tells Walter to look everywhere for the cash.