Second-hand Lions

             This movie is kind of a celebration of two aging actors. Robert Duvall (The Apostle) and Michael Cain (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) play the Brothers McCann. Known to be loaded with money, they are stalked by money hungry relatives and traveling salesman, and the gossip of the town has them as Mafia hitmen, bankrobbers, and adventurers.

            Enter Walter (Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense), their great nephew, whose mother is shamed by her family, but, she wants a piece of the treasure, and leave Walter at the McCann’s in order to sniff out the treasure. Walter can’t stand his mom, or her steady stream of bad news boyfriends. Children in distress make for wonderful characters when played well.

            Soon, the grizzled old men open up to Walter and he to them, and they begin to bond. The Old men begin buying strange things, like lions, and giraffes, and begin telling Walter all sorts of Stories of strange adventures in the Africa with the foreign legion. It has a Big Fish quality that I find so endearing. As the Old Testament in particular makes an emphasis, remembering the past is essential to a people and an individual.

            Soon his mother returns, and Walter’s education summer will begin to change things for the better. The story is told very wel, and the old men are supreme in their old age. It’s a really fun movie about growing up, and being a man, and what makes a man a man. Learning and changing, how you handle trouble, and how you overcome circumstances. Clearly a 2 and worth watching.

Dreamgirls

This is a marvelous piece of musical as adapted to the screen. It’s funny how there seem to be two philosophies of musical adaptation. Either make something that would be impossible to do on stage, or be as faithful to the stage performance as possible. This one takes the latter, as it presents Dreamgirls in a brilliant but traditional way.

It’s been a while, so I don’t remember the principle’s names, but Three Girls form a trio and become marketed as the Dreams, and chase the idea of musical equality on the charts of white music. Along the way their producer begins a lot of funny business deals, including a lot of black money, and manipulates everyone to make things sell, and make himself successful.

Along the way he wrongs many people, including a lounge singer names Jimmy Early (Eddie Murphy, Beverly Hills Cop) and many others. It’s got an all star cast including Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx (Collateral) and Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon). 

Aesthetically it’s beautiful, and deals with a great deal of thoughts on the aesthetics of the 60’s and 70’s, and looks at the beauty in the clothing and expression of African-American culture. It’s a period piece, and everyone plays a cultural part.

The theme is redemption, of course. It’s a huge critique of societies ills and the corruption of the show business industry when you mix it with greed. One desperate element is combustible, more than one lethal. 2.