Author: Fair
Date: 09-14-03 20:40
Like a few others... I managed to catch the SHL sneak preview today. Right now I'm not sure where I want to take this little message of mine... so I'm just going to ramble on for a bit and we'll see what happens. 
So there was a group of six of us that made our way to the theatre. Just as I was planning to do from my previous message, all six of us agreed to get dressed up for the occasion. We all strolled in through the large lobby doors and made our way to the theatre of choice for the afternoon. I noticed an odd stare or two from others in the lobby... but for the most part, everyone got the heck out of our way as we sauntered toward the theatre. 
We had arrived at the entrance to the theatre with a little over 10 minutes to spare, but the theatre already had a better than average crowd for a Sunday afternoon. The interesting part, and it was something that hit all six of us at about the same time was that... well, well... aren't we the youngest ones here. lol! I guess the marketing of the film really hit home with the geriatric crowd... because we were IT for the Haley fans in the audience. Odd to be sure... but perhaps on Friday things will right themselves.
Now that I've managed to bore most of you with my silly preamble... and probably even chased a few away when they saw how long this message is; now we can get to the good stuff. I certainly will not be discussing the story and revealing any spoilers from the film. I think I will just deal with a few of the "hot" issues and then save a proper review for another day.... what, no review... and a few more bail out of this message. heh.
So what can I say about the film? I myself really enjoyed SHL... wow, big shocker there with that statement, why a blind man could have seen that one coming. This is why a review from me would be pointless. The best I can do is state why I liked it and leave it at that.
The film itself had an interesting style. It looked and felt like an "independant" film release as opposed to the "crispness" of say a film like A.I. I'm certain they also chose a specific quality of film stock as they wanted everything to have sort of a late 50's to early 60's level of quality for most films of that time. I think those choices worked well for the film especially with all the "flashback" scenes.
I'm certain OZ will take great notice of all the outdoor shots as you could tell Jack Green had his magical hand on all of them. He did great justice to the wide open spaces which made up that part of Texas.
I suppose it is worth mentioning that some of the bits in the trailer did not make it into the final cut of the film. I'll also add, since I know some are interested and I like to stay through the credits, that Lois Carl was not the on-set teacher for Mr. Osment for this film. And as Margaret had mentioned earlier... Eugene Osment had a small part in the film, and he played it really quite well.
So that only leaves us with some comments about the main actors and the director. Mr. Caine and Mr. Duvall were quite splendid in the film. They played their parts quite well with Mr. Duvall having the more "animated" character when compared to the more "gentle" role for Mr. Caine.
So now we come to Mr. Osment. With Mr. Osment on the screen, you just simply do not want the film to end... it is just that simple. But what about the so-called "reviews" that had some rather poor things to say about him and his performance? I don't think those "reviewers" quite understood that what they saw on the screen was the character as written for the film. The Walter character is that wimpy and awkward and uncoordinated and pretty much a shy waif of a boy. So that is exactly what Haley delivered. I fail to see how they could equate the young teen known as Haley Osment with the character Walter on the screen. I guess they couldn't get past the grown-up Haley and wrongly mixed the two together.
As mentioned by others, Haley still possesses his magical abilities to grab ahold of your emotions and work them however he pleases. Yes, you get to cry in another Haley film... but you also get to laugh, and think, and feel, and, and, and...
So that leaves us with the director, Tim McCanlies. If the film has any faults, this is where they will be found. This is where I think the film stumbles. I'm not sure if it is his style, but there were some odd camera shots and angles that made some of the scenes "uncomfortable". Naturally most of those shots involved Haley, not that the scenes were bad or anything, but just more of a "crikey" what kind of a shot is that? For the most part the direction was ok... but I think you could see his lack of experience at directing a full-length feature film.
Ok... so SHL isn't the perfect film as I try to be as objective as possible given that it is a Haley film... then again, what film can achieve perfection? So where does that leave us? SHL is a great family film with a wonderful message. That is where the true strength of the film comes shining through. I think that is one of the big reasons why the Osment Team chose to do this film.
Hearing Haley state in some of the interviews that he has heard portions of the message from his own dad, leads me to believe they wanted many more to be aware of the fundamentals of the message. This is especially true during these times of erosion.
Secondhand Lions has reserved its place up on the "Haley Mantle" of high quality work. I would like to think that this film has the potential to be one of those, "in the right place and at the right time" kind of films that catches everyone by surprise. Not so much with Oscar nominations which most equate to a high quality film... but rather with how many hearts this film will touch. That is why this film can proudly sit on the Haley Mantle, and that is why "Secondhand Lions" is a celebration of life.
Well that was my little story... I wrote so much because there are still far too many out there who have to wait months for this film to be released in their area. I wanted them to hopefully experience some of the flavour from today. I myself cannot believe I have to wait almost a whole week until I can see the film again.
Go Haley!!!
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