Movie Review: Second Hand Lions on DVD

This weekend I saw a videotape of the movie Secondhand Lions with Michael Caine and Robert Duvall. I do have one criticism of the movie in that it did include some post-modern philosophy. People are not basically good, they are basically bad. But you should treat them as though they were good even though they are not. Next, the film implied that you should sometimes believe things that are false because this is useful and good for you and others. I have to disagree with that. Noble truths like the importance of virtue and honor (so long as it is God’s definition of virtue and God’s honor) and the unimportance of things like money and power by comparison are believable because they are really true, not merely because it is inspiring to believe them though false. But this minor criticism apart, I thought the movie was really delightful. Here you see a tale of a boy growing up that involves his growth in morality and character rather than the loss thereof. In addition, the spirit of adventure, the masculine approach to things, and the unabashed willingness to accept the virtuous use of force all made the movie quite delightful. It is especially wonderful that obvious vices were not thrown in to counterbalance the virtues of the two old uncles. I only wish I had known more about the film while it was in theaters.