Year Released: 2003
Written and Directed by: Tim McCanlies
Starring: Michael Caine, Robert Duval, Haley Joel Osment, Kyra Sedgwick
(PG, 109 min.)
Genre: Drama, Comedy

“Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most.” Robert Duvall as Hub

Who could resist this trio? Michael Caine as a backwater Texan along with his big brother Robert Duvall, and “I See Dead People” Haley Joel Osment rounding out the crew. They aren’t exactly dead people when their great nephew arrives, but they are settling in for it without much resistance.

I mean, when you have lived their lives, how do gardening and fishing compare? Robert Duvall’s Hub says it all:

I'm Hub McCann. I've fought in two world wars, and countless smaller ones on three continents. I've led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I've seen the headwaters of the Nile and tribes of natives no white men had ever seen before. I've won and lost a dozen fortunes, killed many men, and loved only one woman with a passion a flea like you could never begin to understand. That's who I am.

Yes, unlike so many other movie leads, Hub does know exactly who he is, or maybe only who he was. It is his great nephew Walter (Haley Joel Osment) who needs to teach him the latter.

That involves coping with the loss of his only love, Jasmine, the exotic beauty who won his heart so many years ago. He won’t talk about any of it. Walter, unceremoniously dumped there by his deceitful and avaricious mother (Kyra Sedgwick), has to pry it out of his loyal brother, Garth (Michael Caine) who becomes a male Scheherazade, doling out their mutual adventures in bits and pieces, just as the legendary Persian queen did to save her life. It doesn’t quite take Garth One Thousand and One Nights, but the often-interrupted tales of adventures seem as sparse as rainfall in a droughty Texas summer for the curious Walter.

He doesn’t quite know whom to believe, the great uncles who first greet him with their shotguns, his mother who talks of buried treasure she expects him find, or the locals who speak of their rumored loot having been stolen from Al Capone.

And Hub, slowly warming up to the boy, doesn’t clarify things too much either.

Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things that a man needs to believe in the most: that people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; that love, true love, never dies... No matter if they're true or not, a man should believe in those things because those are the things worth believing in. (Part of Hub's famous 'what every boy needs to know about being a man 'speech.)

***

The film was labeled as sentimental and even schmaltzy by some critics when it first premiered in 2003, but its reputation has improved over the years. It compares with Clint Eastwood’s fine tribute to a past vision of manhood in Gran Torino, as well as Michael Caine’s reluctant but fearless vigilante in Harry Brown.

The title says it all. Not “Secondhand Lion,” referring only to Jasmine, the past-her-prime tame circus throwaway, but to Garth and Hub as well. They too are secondhand lions. Having been kings of the jungle all their lives, they now seem as flummoxed as Jasmine when the caged lioness first arrives at their place.

It takes Walter nurturing Jasmine to bring her back to life. And he does so with his great uncles, too. The child who was never cherished by his mother is nurtured by the love he bestows on Garth and Hub. That love soon envelopes all three, even if they only acknowledge it in their very stoic, taciturn ways.

The bridge outside of Coupland, Texas, reminded me of this tremendous film when I showed it to my sister and her husband visiting from Illinois. It is appears twice in Secondhand Lions

What happens there propels the film into greatness. Rediscover this gem that gets better and better each year…maybe because it shines bright against the current redundant nihilism choking much of current cinema.

–Kathy Borich
🥁🥁🥁🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

Garth (Michael Caine) and Hub (Robert Duvall) don’t eat much other than meat, washed down by iced tea or beer, and the occasional catfish, once they clean out any lingering buckshot. They are not conventional, even in their fishing methods, which rule out rods and reels.

And those shotguns come in handy, too, for warding off any of the traveling salesman that end up at their place in their flashy late fifties Chevys, Fords, or Buicks.

After the occasional trip to town they end up at their favorite barbecue place, this one filmed at Cele, near Pflugerville, Texas.

That same store was in another famous Texas film:

What do Michael Caine, Clint Eastwood and Leatherface have in common? They’ve all wandered into an old general store 23 miles outside of Austin, called Cele Store.

This location has been the backdrop for several movies, including Secondhand Lions, A Perfect World and Texas Chainsaw Massacre I, II and III.

So if you’re into Hollywood, horror and/or smoking hot BBQ, you might want to buckle up and drive east of Manor, TX. -Judy Rae Merhar

The historical Cele Store is worth the trip, but you might also want to visit these other great barbecue places that Different Drummer frequents when she is at her Coupland ranch. And if you are not lucky enough to live in Texas, most of them also ship direct to your home.

Southside Market

Loius Mueller Barbecue

Meyers’ Elgin Smokehouse

***

But Different Drummer is taking young Walter’s advice to his great uncles.

“No more dangerous stuff. No more fighting teenagers. No airplanes. More vegetables, less meat.”

Well, Hub and Garth try the last suggestion, at least. Unfortunately, their new vegetable garden does not yield the varieties promised on the seed labels.

Only corn comes up, but at least that is as close to a jungle that Jasmine, their secondhand lion will ever see, and she is quite happy there.

So for todays’s feature Different Drummer is using her Cilantro and Lime Grilled Corn recipe from her newly released novel, The Serpent’s Tooth: A Texas Mystery.

Another delicious version follows below.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Directions for Grilled Corn:

Two Seasoning Recipes for Grilled Corn on the Cob:

Cilantro and Lime (a yummy grilled seasoned corn on the cob recipe with a little lime juice for added flavor.

On each piece of corn, spread 1-2 Tablespoons of butter onto it. Now you can sprinkle it with parmesan cheese or add a little minced fresh cilantro (my favorite!). Squeeze a tiny bit of lime on top.

Garlic and Thyme (Another yummy one!)

Mix butter, garlic, thyme salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Rub about 1 Tablespoon of the mixture on each ear of the corn. Sprinkle with a little parmesan & parsley.

Directions

· Take your corn and pull back the husks and peel the entire husk off. Some people like leaving the husks on to grill the corn in the husks, but I’d rather take them off.

· Remove the silk from it. (This is a great activity for your kids. Our kids actually ask me if they can ‘peel the corn’ for me, so I send them onto the porch with corn, a large bowl, and a garbage can.)

· Rinse it well with the cold water.

· You can either leave them big or cut each piece in half.

· Season with one of the seasoning recipes found above. You can even leave it plain and just season it with a little butter, salt & black pepper. One of my friends even likes to season it with cayenne pepper.

· Now wrap the corn (each piece individually) in aluminum foil.

· Grill the corn for 15 to 20 minutes (you will want to place them in high heat – around 350-400 degrees)

· Optional: You can take it off, unwrap it and place the corn back on (without the foil) for a minute longer, to let it get the grill marks.

· Serve it immediately. This is always a family favorite!

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