Genre: Family, Coming Of Age, Period Piece, Love, Teenage, Animals, World War II, World War I, Detectives
Plot: 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 hit men 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
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 Old age can't tame Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, as this predictable but endearing tale of renewed hopes and youthful aspirations fittingly proves. And young cub Haley Joel Osment takes these legendary lions of the cinema by the mane to confirm he's one of the most intrepid actors of his youthful generation.  --Robert Sims (Hollywood.com)
The film makes a rather amateur mistake in telling most of its story as a flashback… within a flashback. The bookends do little to give the story depth, except to justify a few plot points at the film’s closing. 5/10--David Trier (Movie-Vault.com)
I liked the film a lot. Is it my fault that when I went home, I popped in Godzilla's Revenge for the first time, and the two time-killers swirled around inside my brain like chocolate and vanilla, getting all mixed together like Lionel Ritchie's daughter? Is it so wrong to compare them as viable products?  --B. Alan Orange (MovieWeb)
Tries so hard to be quirky and loveable that it hurts to watch. 63/100--Brian Webster (Apollo Guide)
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| Directed by |
Tim McCanlies
Dancer, Texas Pop. 81, A Spell for Chameleon, North Shore |
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| Written by |
Tim McCanlies
North Shore, Dancer, Texas Pop. 81, A Spell for Chameleon |
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| Cast |
Michael Caine
Batman Begins, Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Cider House Rules |
 | Robert Duvall
The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, Apocalypse Now |
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 | Kyra Sedgwick
Phenomenon, Born on the Fourth of July, The Woodsman |
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 | Josh Lucas
A Beautiful Mind, American Psycho, Hulk |
 | Eric Balfour
What Women Want, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, America's Sweethearts |
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[more] |
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| Music By |
Patrick Doyle
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Bridget Jones's Diary, Gosford Park |
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Enjoyable drama with good performances by its three leads but slightly let down by its irritating ending.  --Matthew Turner (ViewLondon)
Mild, easy-going and comfortably-directed family stuff that's just fun enough to hold the attention - but it's also lacking a little in spark and originality. 6/10--Gary Panton (Movie Gazette)
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