I really loved this movie. I went into it thinking, oh yay, a movie with that kid from the Sixth Sense and with Michael Caine playing some old guy who tells stories about his youth. Just some sappy feel-good movie about how old people can be cool. Yawn.
But this movie totally blew away my expectations. It was funny, exciting, touching, and really made you think. You really care about the characters in this movie. The ending is perfect and wraps it all up beautifully without making you feel like you've been let down.
I almost cried my eyes out when that stupid lion died. That's got to be one of the most genuinely touching moments in modern movies. Dang, now I'm going all blurry-eyed just thinking about it.
Haley Joel Osment, who should have played young Anakin, gave another great performance in this movie. Naturally Michael Caine was awesome. Robert Duvall also managed to be gruff but lovable. You can't help but love the scene where he beats up those teenagers.
One thing that made this movie really stick out is the adventure element. As we flash back on the uncles' lives we see a story that's shamelessly like old tales that kids used to be raised on before TV came along and ruined all that. The brave hero, the beautiful princess, the evil shiek, sword fights, horse riding, money, danger, true love... Yes, it really was somewhat Princess Bride-ish. The audience, like Walter, ends up loving the stories so much that we don't care whether they're true or not.
I think that the appeal of this movie isn't necessarily in the cool stories, characters, or the other stuff I've raved about. I think that the original hook that was so crucial to its success as a movie was that we all want to have two cool great-uncles like Hub and Garth.
This movie keeps entertaining you by giving you stuff you didn't expect to see. When Hub goes to the hospital, for instance, I thought the climax of the movie would be Hub dying of a heart attack and all of us being sad. But that cliche was deftly avoided in favor of a much better climax and ending.
Stupid lion. There I go again.
Walter's mother was another interesting aspect. Instead of trying to cast her as being accidently a bad mother who later learns her mistakes and changes her ways, it freely gives us a bad mother who we can hate at will. It doesn't try to "fix" her character. Instead, we get the uncles taking Walter in at the end.
One thing that I really dreaded was when Walter would have to leave. I thought the movie would end with a sort of "and I never saw them again, but they changed my life" kind of thing. Again, I was pleasantly disappointed.
Go watch this awesome movie. It's truly enjoyable.
Stupid lion.